Essay 5.11.09

Kimo Gray
5.11.09
English 9
Mr. Salsich
Hello Goodbye. Is it time to go?
An Essay on the Appreciativeness of Farewells.

It can be hard to start over, new town, new life, and to find your place in this “new world.” But what can be even more difficult are the goodbyes, promises of emails and letters and connections that will never break. But if the goodbye means nothing at all, then this person will disappear from your life. Though underappreciated, goodbyes are one of life’s key recurring events, as seen through Emily Dickenson and Naomi Shihab Nye(Periodic Sentence).

I’ve never had a near-death experience, never felt the meaning of life strike me in the same instant I judged my life based on rapid flashes of my biggest regrets. (Loose Sentence) Emily Dickenson experienced these rare feelings twice. In the title of her poem “My life closed twice before its close,” she expresses two instances in her life when she was ready to go, ready to take what life gave her and leave but did not. She lived in hard times, filled with disease, famine, unexpected dangers at every street corner and yet she still found beauty in a world where any day could be your last. (Loose Sentence) In her poem she talks about the two Christian pathways after death, Heaven and Hell. The greatest aspiration of a Christian is to earn their spot in heaven where life is presumptuously better and there is peace; Dickenson writes that “Parting is all we know of Heaven,” all that is truly known is the entrance to Heaven involves a parting from life. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is not a Christian soul that wants to reside in hell where pain and suffering rule all, but Dickenson writes that “[Parting] is all we need of Hell,” suggesting that no matter where the afterlife takes you, there is a way to leave all the suffering that life causes. I have never had a near-death experience, and I admit there is a part of me that yearns for it, the gain these unspoken insights. But maybe what Dickenson is telling me is that near-death doesn’t count, only that you must live your life so that when you must part you will be ready to go.

If given the choice, we would cling on to everything we desperately loved, but goodbyes hardly come as two way streets. Goodbyes vary in terms of difficulty, be it a casual “see you later,” or a final “goodbye.” Naomi Shihab Nye suggests that we should appreciate every goodbye, as seen in her poem “Adios.” She says to “Strap it to your back like wings” so that you’re goodbye’s no matter how big or small can always be with you. Another idea she makes is to think of everything that has ever made you feel sad, confused, and to accept the world so that you won’t have to explain how “the world explains itself.” She is saying that we must be ready at all times to leave this life for the next and to leave behind none of your memories, just a final goodbye. Goodbye’s can be hard, but they can happen at any time, and we must always be ready.

When I left Norfolk, Virginia in summer of 2007, it was very difficult for me to say goodbye. Every one of my moves has been hard for me in terms of goodbyes. It’s just so difficult to build up a life, make friends, have fun, and then to just be heaved out and deposited in another one. What made it especially difficult for me was that it wasn’t my choice, and that because of my parents’ lives I was never in one place for too long. But it isn’t all bad. Every time I move I make new friends, and the cycle repeats. At Pine Point it will be hard to say goodbye, but at least I know that everyone is just a phone call away. Unfortunately due to my forsaking of inveterate (FAST) goodbye’s I have lost touch with almost all my Norfolk friends. As I child my life was a whirlwind, constantly transforming into a dozen different landscapes, but now I can say I’ve found home.

Goodbyes are difficult, but there is always a new beginning behind a closed door. It saddens me to think that one of my best childhood friends, Henry Burns, and I will never again share the great times we had as kids, playing Star Wars, video games, football, all forgotten kids stuff. I remember that when I left I gave him a game card, and though that may seem like nothing now, it is everything that has helped me to remember him and to keep our memories alive. I don’t know if Henry Burns remembers me, or has thought about me in the 6 years since we parted ways, but because of that one goodbye, I will always remember him. Though goodbyes can appear lugubrious(FAST), they are always there to teach us about moving on, be it town to town, or life to life.


Self-Assessment
1. Kimo Gray, 5/11/09, Parting Essay
2. I believe my first body paragraph is stronger than the others. My loose sentences were also apt.
3. My third body paragraph wasn’t as good as the others. I feel I may have gotten off topic in the closing paragraph.
4. I am still working on applying writing tools and staying focused.
5. B