I hate goodbyes!

How does one ever get over it when a friend leaves you behind and moves to another country?

To be fair, Girlfriend technically didn't 'move' to another country. She just went back to where she's from (i.e South Africa) but it still feels like I've been left behind. *Sob*

I hate goodbyes of any sort but long goodbyes are the worst and this is the longest goodbye I have ever had to endure - 2 whole weeks of counting down to the last day. We saw each other every, single day for two weeks, holidayed in Zanzibar for two days and both Girlfriend and Boss stayed over with The Engineer and me for the last few days since their own apartment was all packed up. So it was a sudden jolt of not having her around when she finally left.

The worst part of all was the ride to the airport and the few minutes at the depature gate. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry in front of Girlfriend and make her feel worse but it was really, really hard not to especially when we hugged goodbye.

The moment they went through the departure gates, I couldn't hold on any longer. Cried all the way home (people were staring and I didn't care but I think they assumed that the Engineer had done something to me!), cried at home and cried the next day too . The poor Engineer didn't know what to do with me and he was really, really sad too. We both miss Girlfriend and Boss so much.

I'm especially miserable because, unlike Trixie and all my other friends back in Malaysia, I know I can't see Girlfriend everytime I go home.

Some of the other ladies who have been through this before told me that this is the very unfortunate downside of living as an expatriate. I asked one of them how long it takes to get over it after a friend leaves. Her answer was just one word - never! Pretty sombre information and not really what I wanted to hear but it's the truth.

I know there'll never be another Girlfriend. I'm going to have to be brave so I've been distracting myself by writing more and trying to keep busy. Anyway, if all else fails I can always return to my tried and tested method. A Girlie Movie Marathon and all the chocolate I can consume...just wish Girlfriend was here to share it with me!