A good farewell does not require everyone to feel the same thing at once.

Goodbyes gather people who are in very different places. At a funeral, a leaving party or a last day, one person is stunned, another is relieved, another cannot feel anything yet, and any occasion that insists on a single shared mood forces most of them to perform. Room for mixed feeling is what lets people be honestly present.

If you are arranging or attending a farewell, let the range of reactions stand without correcting anyone. Do not tell someone how they should be taking it. Say your own goodbye in your own register, and allow the person beside you to say theirs in a completely different one.