"Good bye" sounds rather final in English, like, "I'll never see you again". Is Lily knowingly and deliberately walking out on her daughter? And if so, why? It doesn't seem right that she would. Is Margaret Donovan involved?
Yeah Ann, like you said long ago, you and I share the predicament that English isn't our native language. I seem to suffer from it a little more than you do, maybe because I don't spend my time teaching others...
But for explanation.. I found following...
goodbye also: good-bye auf Wiedersehen
Another translation for good bye is "Lebwohl"
"auf Wiedersehen" is the more formal way of saying "See you". In the little word "wieder" (again) is implied that you intend to come back. Though it's rarely used in that strict context.
"Lebwohl" which means as much as "Live well" (and thus implies that you see a person for the last time) is rather ancient use and therefor not a part of today's spoken language. So I might be a little biased, because "auf Wiedersehen" which would be literally translated something like "Until I see you again" can be used whether or not you intend to see the person again.
In my nine years of learning english in school I had never had the impression that Good Bye would be something so definitely final, but I might be wrong. After all Germany didn't do well in the PISA study.
