Bittersweet.

I love words! I often identify with a single word for a certain occasion or season. This past Wednesday was truly bittersweet in every sense of the word. Dictionary.com defines bittersweet as being both painful and pleasant at the same time.

It's pretty much an oxymoron. But that's why I love the word and can embrace that emotion. It's complex. Just like life. And goodbyes.

This is my friend, Abby. And this is our story.

We met at college and lived in the same house.

Starbucks is where we met up. A lot.

We became dear friends.

We did life in Portland together.

We shared heartbreaks and joys.

Wyldlife was a shared ministry passion.

Boys came and went...until a couple stuck. :)

We lived in the Casa de Steinfeld with a beautiful family.

We watched every season of The Bachelor.

We got married (to those boys) and stood up as bridesmaids.

I moved to California.

She moved to Hawaii.

As life would have it (more specifically God), I moved to Hawaii.

Zeke and Tim became surfing buds and good friends.

We had babies.

We kept up on each Bachelor season together.

A new Starbucks we found.

We shared. We prayed. We played.

This past Wednesday we said goodbye--for longer this time.

But, not really--goodbye, lucky for us...it's just aloha.

The painful part is in seeing her off. But, the pleasant part, which weighs much greater, is in knowing what lies ahead for my dear friend and her splendid family.

Bittersweet, right?
You know the emotion, don't you?

Here are some aloha snapshots from last week's aloha dinner.

To Abby (and Z & L): I'll see you soon!!! Aloha!