Why do departures receive the honor of being presented as good?
Greetings are far more welcoming—at least I would like to think so.

Because when we say hello in Spanish, it is often proclaimed and shortened to just “good.” Not just any good either—many of them.

But no—hello gets the short end of the stick. Sometimes it’s just abbreviated to “hi” or “hey.” I often hear the latter from my middle schooler, whose days are often a mystery to me now.

And so—I ask the question, “Where is the ‘good’ in the hello?”

Maybe it’s scared. Or it’s a little shy. So we squeak out a greeting that is more timid and hides. The greeting probably props its hood above its head, puts its hands in the front pocket of its jacket, and looks down at the floor. I understand that. My greetings mute themselves when I feel unsteady on where I am.

But doesn’t that seem contradictory? A “hello” ought to be loquacious and endearing—bringing a full basket of hostess gifts. HELLO!

Instead, it’s alone. It sits by itself—even though a hello by nature ought to mean there’s someone on the receiving end.

So instead, for this year, I won’t murmur my hello. I’ll loudly say, “¡Buenas!” I anticipate all the good of the year to come—more conversations with three younger humans I like, a meal shared with a friend, more “good morning” meetings with my husband after an overnight shift, new creative promptings, new chances, and new opportunities to simply say—

hello.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Hello."