To say farewell to those we love is bittersweet, even when we anticipate seeing them again.
We have all experienced such partings, most likely many many times. Perhaps at a rare family gathering, during which bonds of blood are renewed. Little compares with the joy we feel as we once again see our relatives, even if we don’t particularly like them. That first hug… well, it is a pretty powerful thing, and no, a handshake simply will not do.
And then our together time is spent, time comes to go our separate ways, and we must say farewell. I wonder why such partings are so incredibly painful?
Probably because they are completely unnatural.
Save humans, what other social animals deliberately leave the ones they love except perhaps to find food, and likely not even then? After thinking about this, the only circumstance which comes to mind is the case of young adults who are either forced out, or set out to find mates and establish family groups of their own.
Yet in human society these partings have become the norm, not the exception. How much harm do we do ourselves by fragmenting and separating our extended families? How many relationships are we willing to lose in order to gain tangible things we can touch, but which have no capacity for love? When did we decide things we can hold are more important than people we love?
Right about then is when humanity went wrong.
