saying goodbyes

Since being offered the new position, I have started a series of goodbyes. I don't think of them as goodbyes forever, just goodbye for now. Besides, with Web 2.0 applications, it is much easier to stay in contact with loved ones around the world while one is off galivanting around remote islands. Still, that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye to that physical connection for which a local proximity allows. I would like to capture as many of these local proximity goodbye moments as I can before I take off. While watching J and L's children for the last time tonight, there was the following conversation:

L: I want you to be gone when Mommy and Daddy get home.
A: Yeah.
Me: Oh?
L: Yeah, when Mommy and Daddy get home, you will be gone.
Me: That's right; Mommy and Daddy always come home after they go out, don't they? And then I leave.
L: Yeah. Except you will never come back.
Me: Yeah, 'cause I'm moving.
L: Yeah, 'cause you're moving...but I love you, Emily. (said like that's a reason not to go) (Insert heart jerk here.)
Me: I love you too, L. And I love you, A.
A: Love you too.

How do nearly 3-year-olds come up with that? I'm continually amazed at human beings as they mature, especially as children. It's hard enough to say goodbye to my friends and even harder to say goodbye to their children when I know that the children will change so fast before I see them again.