Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Wave

My first memory of waving good-bye was when I was three or four, which made my brother five or six. My brother was heading off to wait for the bus just at the end of our driveway. I remember I was holding my little red and white drawstring purse/bag with the metal buttons on it and telling him I wanted to go to school with him. I remember my mom next to me as we talked to him out the upstairs living room window. I didn't know what school was but I am guessing my playmate was leaving me and that had as much to do with me wanting to go to school as anything. It was from that window that I waved him good-bye as he went off to a day of school while I stayed home with Mom.

The wave was something my family has been doing forever, well from at least my first memory of that day with my brother. We always stand in the window, and wave when someone leaves. It didn't matter if it was for a couple hours, a few days, or a journey ahead, a wave was as important as the hug or kiss before leaving.

As I stood in my open doorway tonight waiting to wave as my parents headed back home I thought about all the times I have waved and been waved to.  If it wasn't the door it would have been the window, it's just an unwritten rule and it has followed all of us kids from our youth to our own homes.

I guess waving is like saying, I am still thinking of you, I love you and wish you safe travels, please come again. It is nothing for us to wave and wave until the last second when we can no longer see the person leaving drive down the road. Every house my parents have lived in they find a door, or a window to wave from, not waving...is not an option. I remember when Chris left home from our town-home for the first time and I waved from the dining room window. I also remember how I felt the first time he waved to me out the window as I left, it meant the world to me that he would take the time to wave, and we continue it today.

If there is a will there will be a wave. I guess it is as much about knowing that there someone is willing to give you those few extra seconds or minute to say one last goodbye, to not just run off but to let you know that you will be thought of even after you are gone.

It's a simple gesture, but a loving one.

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