We will walk in bitter rain.
But in dreams
I can hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again

In The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King at the very end of the movie, Frodo leaves the shire. Frodo leaves the shire, his friends and his home...forever. He says goodbye to his dearest friends. Friends who had changed his life in so many different ways.

He...well...he needs to move on, as do his friends. He will always treasure them and their friendship, but there comes a time when one must move on.

The experiences those four hobbits had shared! The depth of those experiences cannot be described. It can only be felt. The sorrow they dealt with...the tears they wept together. The joy and the happiness they felt. The love they shared...the light. The pain, turmoil and strife, the times of extreme hardship. And yet...all loyal to each other and their cause. Firm friends...true friends. And yet...Frodo leaves.

Why?

Because sometimes we must move on. Onward and upward on different paths. For Frodo, there was nothing left for him in the shire.

I still do not fully understand why he had to leave, but I believe that I will some day. I do understand that sometimes we must say goodbye to those we love. And when that time comes...we must accept it. And as Frodo said to Sam, "You cannot always be torn in two. You will have to be one and whole for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be and to do..."

We must go on...our story goes on, and we must move with it.

Frodo said once "Bilbo once told me, his part in this tale would end. That each of us must come and go in the telling."

Our parts in each others stories must come to an end. It is the way of things, I think. People pass into our stories, leaving their mark. And then their chapters end, leaving us full of sorrow. Yet...our stories go on.

It was hard for Frodo to leave...but he had to. His part in the tale had passed. Though it was harder still for his friends, left behind...it had to be. Their stories had many pages left.

It is the way of things, I think.

Yet, there are three things that lend a greater sense of comfort.

Gandalf said, "There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."

We are meant to grow to love the people we do, and they us. We are meant to have our time together. We are meant to leave a mark in each others stories. And that is, indeed, an encouraging thought.

Second, some people's chapters or parts in our stories never end nor fade. Some are with us to the end page, or very near it. Merry, after all, did not leave Pippin. And some people leave for a short period of time...and find their way back. Once again, walking in the chapters of our stories. Sam left the shire, that chapter closed. But he found his way back, and Rosie was once again a part of his story.

And as to the last...well...I believe, if we live the right way, that our stories will once agin connect with others who have moved on...we will be reunited, and begin Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on this earth has read. And as Lewis wrote, we will find that the stories before were just the title page...the first few paragraphs.

I do not think such people would come into our lives only to leave, never to be seen again. No...I think that if we live the way we should, we will meet again. And that is an encouraging thought.

So, take heart. When the time comes for someone in your story to move on--and that time will come--don't cry for too long. Do not mourn and fear their passing...they are not dead, after all. Just walking in someone else's chapters. Smile, because they were there, with you. And weren't you the better for it?

"Don't say we have come now, to the end. White shores are calling. You and I will meet again."