This is the Day They Said Goodbye

Saturday morning we walked over to Pike Place to get donuts, pastries and fruit for breakfast. 

Where, or where, can I find a place like this wonderful in Utah?

While purchasing pastries at Pike Place (presumably picking particular platter-sized donuts),

Courtney and I spotted Target. Right there. 

Which was the first stop on the list of the day after Pikes Place. 

(And Pastries.)

So we sauntered our silly selves slowly... 

(Seriously, I think my brain is subconsciously using alliteration 

to slow me down and focus on something else 

so I don't have to relive this sad, sad goodbye tale!)

Anyhow, 

We trotted to Target... 

(it's seriously just coming to my mind. I'm not even trying!!)

Anyway,

We went to Target to buy hangers 

(and got distracted at cosmetics) 

and the boys bought food and went back to the hotel to eat.

The point of needing hangers before anything else was because 

we needed to unpack all of Courtney's clothes and get them on hangers 

so the boys could take the luggage back with them. 

I was staying an extra day and 3 extra-large bags 

were too much for me to take 

(you know me, I'm a carry-on-only kind of packer).

Also, we had to hurry and eat breakfast because our next stop after Target 

was Blue C Sushi because it's too fun to miss. 

So exactly 1 hour after we finished breakfast, 

we sat down to eat lunch at Blue C. I am not kidding. 

It was that important to some little people. 

And it wasn't the kind of day for saying no.

Finally it was 1:30 and time for check-in. 

There was an hour wait for carts to pile dorm-moving in luggage in, 

but fortunately we had all 6 of us to each carry a bag (or two). 

Which we did and bypassed the cart line.  

Chen, Courtney's roommate hadn't arrived yet, so we felt comfortable 

hanging out in the room. Soon, however, we discovered we were short 

on hangers. So Dan took the boys up to Target 

to buy more while Courtney and I continued unpacking.

By the time they were back with the hangers, there were only a few 

minutes left before they had to say goodbye. 

Dan did the quick "I'm not going to cry in front of my daughter" 

or "quick pull of the band-aid" goodbye -- a strong hug 

then moved away quickly to usher the boys in to give their goodbye's.

Nick gave a good hug and then turned quickly away. 

He said a pretty jovial sounding, "goodbye, Courtney."

And had said many times, "she's coming home for every Thanksgiving and Christmas" 

so I think he believed because he was seeing her again "goodbye" was okay. 

It reminded me a lot of when Courtney (also in third grade at the time) 

said goodbye to her friends in California when we moved to Utah. 

She was sad but excited to see what moving brought. 

It wasn't until we went back and visited a few months later 

that she realized how much she missed everyone there and cried her eyes out. 

Marty was misty-eyed as he said goodbye and talked a lot -- 

I think so he wouldn't stop talking and start crying instead.

Christopher's face and sorrowful eyes were absolutely heartbreaking. 

He looked so forlorn as he waited his turn to give Courtney a hug. 

I've never seen emotion so raw and so heartsick. 

He gave her a hug and started to cry and Courtney started to cry. 

And then they had to walk out the door and leave.

I hugged Courtney as she cried. And I cried. 

And then she was almost recovered until she remembered she'd forgotten 

to take a photo of everyone together one last time.  Just then, I heard 

their voices on the sidewalk below and offered to call them back up. 

Courtney protested so I just popped my head out the window 

and shouted another hello and goodbye. Oh dear. 

Christopher looked up and looked like his heart was breaking all over again.  

Dan texted a few minutes later and said there were a lot of 

sniffles coming from the back seat on the way to the airport.

There is a dad and three brothers who really love their Courtney and are going to miss her.