Wednesday’s Wildflower…♥…”I haven’t a clue how my story will end. But that’s all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, that’s when you discover the stars.”
Nancy Willard
“I can’t seem to make sense of it, Grandpa.”
“What’s that, Lily?”
“Aloha,” Lily’s brows furrowed. “How can it mean both hello and goodbye?”
Grandpa rubbed his chin. “But…I don’t think that it does, my dear. I think you’re misunderstanding the meaning. The Hawaiians say the word ‘aloha’ when greeting someone, or saying goodbye, but the real meaning of the word is more of a vibration of love, peace and compassion. It’s a guideline for how to live, like when your heart is so full of love that you have the ability to touch and influence others around you, with simply your spirit.”
“Like a bucket of overflowing water?” Lily reached up to take his hand.
“Yes, oh yes, Lily,” Grandpa squeezed her hand. “That’s exactly what I mean. The water escaping the bucket, it can’t help but touch everything around it.”
“Hmm…” Lily said.
“Although, I do have to say, that if aloha did mean both hello and goodbye, that it would make perfect sense to me.”
“Whatever do you mean, Grandpa?”
“Well, it seems to me that anytime you say goodbye to something, or someone, that you are essentially saying hello to something else. It’s a basic rule of nature. When we say goodbye to spring, we are saying hello to summer. When we say goodbye to the cocoon, we are saying hello to the butterfly. And so it is with the seed and the flower, the egg and the bird, the–”
“The sun and the moon!” Lily interrupted.
“Exactly,” Grandpa smiled, “the sun and the moon. And…well, with people, too. Like when I said goodbye to your Grandma, I had to learn to say hello to something new. A new way of living my life, a new way of being, like traveling. Now that Grandma’s gone, I travel more, and I get to come see you more often. Your Grandmother was fairly weak at the end, she didn’t like to travel much.”
“Yes,” Lily nodded, “that’s what Mom always says.”
The two were quiet, thinking about what that meant.
“Do you miss her?” Lily finally asked. “Grandma, I mean.”
“Yes,” Grandpa sighed, “I do. But I have to respect that when your Grandma said goodbye to this earth, she said hello to the heavens, and I know it’s hard to hear, Lily, but someday I’ll have to say goodbye, too.”
“I know,” Lily whispered, looking down.
The old man looked down at the child, noticing with love overflowing in his heart at how her curls resembled those of his late wife.
“Lily?” he finally said.
She looked up.
“Lily,” he smiled, gently, “I said someday, honey. Not today.”
Thank you for “sharing” and “liking” any blog that moves you…♥
Photos on Visual hunt. Photo credit: Spirit-Fire on Visualhunt / CC BY.
Well written, a beautiful blog about compassion and seeing things in a new way.
Yes, my son has been begging me to write a new blog about Grandpa and Lily…couldn’t think of anything for the longest time, then this popped into my head. Glad you like it 🙂
So beautifully put, It gives me a whole new outlook on life. I so look forward to Wed. and Sat. to read your blogs.
Thank you. Hopefully puts a smile on your face 🙂
Awww, what a gem! Beautiful!
By the way, ‘cześć’ in Polish is both ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ 🙂
I love that!!! “Czesc!” to you
Cześć! my friend! 🙂
“…the real meaning of the word is more of a vibration of love, peace and compassion.” ~ I never thought of “aloha” meaning this way, but it’s inspiring to think of it like that! Also, the reflection about how a goodbye means hello at the same time… so lovely! Thank you for sharing!
Yes, isn’t that a beautiful way to view Aloha? I learned something, as well. Magical… Aloha to you, and thank you for your thoughtful comment!
Always a pleasure! Love reading your reflections.
I love this, so beautiful, so amazing how hello and goodbye are so connected..I also watched ep. 12..so beautiful to imagine and have wonder of what it may be..I’ve been there(I saw it and felt it) I remember..it was Christmas Eve 2005 a hello and goodbye on both sides…
One merely flows into the other, don’t you think? It’s like, when one soul leaves the earth, another one is born…mysterious and magical, not frightening, as one is sometimes taught to think.
So true..its like a beautiful dance..