He squeezes my hand. Hard. I notice him looking around, a little excited, a little apprehensive. I squeeze back, a reassuring grip, a silent shout of encouragement. I bend down, bouncing on the balls of my feet and give him a big hug. Then, after a gentle nudge, he leaves me and goes to start his day at preschool. 

A half hour later I'm standing outside the elementary school. The stream of students exiting the busses and making their way to the classrooms surrounds us. I reach for her hand, trying to repeat my encouragement squeezes from before. She pulls away, doing a kindergartner version of rolling her eyes. Some friends get off the bus and before I know it, the gang of four five-year-olds leave me standing in the drizzle and go to start their day at kindergarten.

Two kids, two doorways, two different goodbyes. 

In couple of hours I'll get to have a doorway hello with the preschooler and then later with the kindergartner. That's the nice thing about doorways. You say goodbye in them, but also hello. 

xo Sara