Did you ever move from the neighborhood of your childhood, or the neighborhood of your season of joy and pleasant days?

Did you ever have a friend who was like a sister, even a twin, move away from you?

Did you ever feel yourself losing control in a room at the MTC as your first son or daughter to serve a mission (or your parents) pulled gently away from your hugs and your tears?

Did you ever have mixed feelings when a son or daughter married and a new family began, and they really did leave father and mother?

Have you ever been betrayed such that goodbye has been so hard, even maybe mixed with bitterness and a sense of deep loss? Has it ever hurt, at any time in your life, to have a dear pet finish their time with you?

Have you ever struggled to say goodbye to a particular season of your life, like the season when everything "worked" pretty well (i.e., your health was good)?

Have you ever watched a loved one slip away through the thin veil to the next part of eternity?

How do YOU handle goodbyes? How have YOU made it through such tender and often painful experiences?

Does prayer help? Can you feel His and Their comfort and peace?

Does it help when you cry, even if you’re all by yourself?

Are the hymns a source of sweet consolation?

How about going in or even near a Temple? Does that help?

If you have someone you trust whom you can talk to, dies it bring solace and comfort?

Do memories help? Or do they sometimes just remind you of that which won’t be part of your relationship from now on?

Have you ever experienced the "Law of Compensation," where Heaven sweetly provides what you need in ever step of the process of saying goodbye?

Have your experiences brought to you a clear feeling of why the Holy Ghost has always been called the Comforter? Have you had times when you’ve realized how good He is with this assignment? Have you been able to identify some specific things which have brought healing?

Can you think of lessons you’ve learned as you’ve faced the "time to say goodbye" (there’s a song with that phrase that really, really tips me over....)? Have you become more compassionate, more aware, more gentle and kind with others because you’ve said your own goodbyes?

Yesterday, on Jesus’s birthday, our sweet, fun, wonderful Mother was admitted to Hospice care — to the skill and compassion of those who’ve attended so many, many goodbyes.

I’m not sure I know how to say goodbye.

But I know what Easter means. And the Atonement. And the great Plan of Happiness. And the phrase that "God is love." And the sweet reality of having a Savior.