It is that time of year again! Summer is ending and everyone is getting ready to go back to school if they have not already. College freshmen are leaving home for the first time and are embarking on great new adventures and to begin pursuing their futures. This is an exciting time.

It’s also a nostalgic time, at least for me.

I remember leaving for my first semester of college. My school was in a town where I wasn’t going to know anyone, because all of my friends had chosen different schools. I said goodbye to all of my old high school friends, promising to see them again as soon as possible. The funny –and somewhat sad—thing is I haven’t seen most of them since then. It didn’t feel like a goodbye at the time –quite the opposite, actually. We really believed we would see each other again soon.

None of us were expecting our lives to go in the directions they have taken. Some got married. Some moved away for jobs. Some moved away for school, fell in love with the city and decided to stay. The point is we never expected our “See you later!” was an unintentional “Goodbye” in disguise.

Years have passed and things are different now. Most of us are graduating and starting careers or even families. It is going to be increasingly difficult to find the time to see old friends when you also need to see your family.

Over the last few weeks, I have had to say goodbye to three of my friends. One of my friends is going away to live on another continent for a year. The other two are moving to another state in a matter of days. While they’re only moving one state over, they also have families to see when they actually do manage to come back.

We said it’s a “See you later!” and not a “Goodbye,” but now that I’m older, I can’t help but wonder if maybe one of them will be one of those unintentional goodbyes – someone I cherish but won’t see again for who knows how many years, until we accidentally run into each other at a grocery store or something. No one really intends on saying goodbye forever, but sometimes that’s what happens, and you cannot always predict that. It’s scary. Growing up is scary.

To all those kids going away to college and leaving their friends and family for the first time, keep up with your old friends as much as you can, but make new ones, too. Some of your friends will stay, but it’s likely some of them will also drift away. That’s part of growing up. You insist it won’t happen and that you’ll keep in touch with all of them, but some of them will inevitably drift away. It won’t be anyone’s fault – it just happens.

Maybe someday, when you’re picking up a few things at the store while you visit family in your hometown, you’ll bump into that friend you haven’t seen in years…

And it will feel like they never left.