Saying bye is one of the hardest things for me to do. I place my tie over my shoulders, weightless, yet i can still feel the beauty and love that it contains. The purple silk holds years of cherished love and friendships. One step at a time, i notice the end is drawing closer. I see others, Amazons and Valkyries walking side by side, no smile, no frown, just calm, and still faces walk by, with no word. I walk alone, and sad to the ceremony. I feel the tears pushing on the back of my eyes, i buried my face in my Thing 1 stuffed animal. Its hands fit perfectly in my eye sockets, while scooping out my tears. We all scatter around in the Kiosk. Im the only one crying, but i can tell so many other girls are holding back the tears that are trying so hard to break though.

There she is, the one girl in all of camp i consider an older sister. She is called up and before a could start clapping, again i buried my head in my hands and cried, i didn't care if people looked, because i knew this is the last year she would ever be a camper, the last year i could go take over her cabin. What makes that even worse, this wasn't only the last summer i could do this, but the last day. I can hear all the tears rolling down faces of Valkyries and Amazons faces, it sounded as if there was a rain storm, and with every tear i heard, one by one, we were just one second closer to saying good bye, to the girls you have gotten so close to. I lift my head to find, Im not alone. Everyone stands up, as fast as they can, they don't want to waste one more second, out of the few they have left. I take in one of my bunkies first. There red tie, barely brushes my arm, but just enough for me to feel the fuzzy cotton. I have touched so many times before. I look into her eyes and wrap my arms around her one last time. Its too hard, I walk away and find others that i couldn’t live without saying my last bye to. I wait till one of my “big sister’s” are done hugging the people surrounding them. I jump into her arms and don't let go.

When i finish saying my good byes, I start heading back to my cabin. I smell the day lilies for the last time, the smell is so strong, i could taste it. The pollen, so strong swells around me. You could almost taste the beauty.

When I walk into my cabin to place my tie back in its box, but right on top; where my tie belongs. I see a note, i will never forget the last words. ‘Don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened.’