One of the strange things about living in the world, is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever.

Saying goodbye is a time of total and complete chaos. You have no idea if it's going to last or for how long it will last. You have no idea how to function without that one stable element in your life. So how do you withdraw from its love? Or do you continue to linger?  The hardest thing is re-learning the steps to happiness. It's like the first few months of a relationship: you have to create boundaries and live within them to feel some sort of safety. That's why goodbyes are so hard because you normally are saying goodbye to what makes you feel secure or guarded and that scares the fucking shit out of human nature.