So Sweet

Well has Shakespeare said, "Parting is such sweet sorrow". I believe there is so much sorrow in the world, but I think that most of it is bitter. Parting, however, is sweet. So sweet. Its bitterness is tempered with the sweetness of love and memory. It may be tragic, yet love and memory remain.

Where am I going with all this? Well, as you might guess, I have recently parted with people. Our China team, to be exact. This was our last time together. Yesterday I said a lot of goodbyes and was down in the dumps all day. Rachel was some small comfort. She looked at my mournful face and said, "Not yet, silly!"

I grieve hard and there is no consoling my while it lasts. Yet, mercifully, it dissipates quickly, leaving me with a headache and a few bitter memories. And then, in a few months, I will remember times together with a strange pang of sorrow and a surge of joy; the sweetness of which will rival the sorrow of parting and will bring tears of some strange, unnamed emotion to my eyes.