I made a trip today to say goodbye to a co-worker who entered into her next chapter of life on Easter Sunday, as she bid farewell to her life on this Earth.  These situations are never easy as nobody is ever fully prepared to say goodbye, especially when you feel that their life ended way too soon.  When these occasions occur they always remind me about the length of our lives and how much shorter they are than we ever fully comprehend.  In the midst of being at this beautiful service where people recounted lots of funny stories about this individual, it also felt like a class reunion to me, as I kept running into people that had been part of my career since the beginning.  I had been part of so many of these people's milestone moments, when some were married or had their first child or a retirement party that I attended.  As I took in the many comments from people afterwards, it made me smile to think that although we had come together to say goodbye to someone else, we were able to acknowledge and say hello to some long time friendly faces.   For all of us that were feeling melancholy about the occasion that brought us together, we began to receive from each other some heartfelt hugs and well wishes as we briefly brought each other up on where we were in our lives.  We all began to quickly ask questions about each other's families and how everyone's well being was.  It instantly made me feel like relatives at a wedding, when you realize that a lot of time has passed since the last time you saw each other and how much you really missed seeing these people.  As we began to leave in order to make our way back to our areas of residence, I took one more look at all of the people there and it made me smile once again that the person that we were there to honor, allowed us all an opportunity to re-engage with so many friends.  The occasion also brought to mind the fact that we have this wonderful tradition of saying goodbye as we celebrate the wonderful life that someone shared with us.  In sadness, we can all be comforted by the fact that there are many people whose lives we touch and that our existence to others means a lot more than we may think it did.  Remember that in life we have moments that are filled with happiness, sorrow, contentment, hope and wonder.  My wish is that everyone has more of those moments that will inspire you to be connected to those individuals that bring you those great positive emotions.  For when the time comes that you have to experience some of the more trying periods, it can make you appreciate the good times and the happy milestones that all of you were able to celebrate together during each others lives.