The subject of goodbyes oftentimes delivers me to the Grey Havens of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. Having now outed myself as a Lord of the Rings geek, I can admit without remorse that the farewell scene from the “shores of the sea” in The Return of the King — film or print — produces that weird, leaky sensation in my eyes.
My wife has never seen me cry, by the way. As a matter of fact, no one in my immediate or extended families has. Nor will they. But aside from devastating losses suffered by the Razorbacks over the decades — for which I wailed outright through the age of, well, older than I care to admit — a handful of things has pushed me, perhaps, close to the edge. There’s the beforementioned excerpt from Tolkien’s masterpiece; the hospital room scene in Hoosiers between a prodigal father and his forgiving son; “Opie the Birdman” from The Andy Griffith Show; Linus’ instructional recitation from the Gospel of Luke in A Charlie Brown Christmas; the Band of Brothers epilogue… You get the idea.
Goodbyes, you may have noticed, feature prominently in some of these examples. They’re not easy, goodbyes. But, of course, that’s part of the plan.
I’m off to a new adventure now, so this will be the last time readers are forced to put up with my ramblings in this space. But I’ll be close and may even pop in to visit AMP from time to time still. Heather, Vicki and John have grown this publication into something of which to be truly proud, and to them, my sincere thanks for trusting me with the wheel.
Sometimes, missed left turns in Albuquerque will lead a fellow just where he needs to go, and I’m grateful the path led me here.
To all my AY Media Group colleagues, past and present, from the freelancers to the production team (our industry’s front-line workers) — my hat is tipped to your outstanding work. Of all things, a quote from Charlotte’s Web seems appropriate here, for each of you: “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.”
But goodbyes, in this case, well, let’s just forego them. Because, as Mr. Squyres always said, “It’s not goodbye. It’s ‘See you later.’”