Taking a Piece of You With Me

"We shall not cease from exploration

and the end of all our exploring

will be to arrive where we started

and know the place for the first time."

---T.S. Eliot

The new year looms. Do we say goodbye or hello? Are we departing or arriving?

Both. All.

Goodbye to what's become familiar. Hello to the new familiar

The comings and goings that define our life, ourselves. We were here a year ago on this day. Now we've returned to this point again, different and yet the same. Changed forever in many ways. Always familiar in others.

When Kevin used to leave for a work trip, he would look back repeatedly as he drove away from the house or walked away in the airport. I asked him once, "Why?" "To take a piece of you with me," was his reply.

We talked to Hannah and Andrea after Mass this week. We talked about saying goodbye when we left their house after taking over their Christmas gifts.

Hannah asked, "I saw you turn around and watch us when Daddy Kevin drove away. Why did you watch us?" "To take a piece of you with me," I said. She hugged me. I guess I got the answer right.

So today I am looking back to take a piece of this place, this time, these memories with me.