I have a friend, Monica, who only reads books with “happy endings.” She says, “Why read sad books? Life is hard enough without reading about some tragedy.” Fair enough.
Ending: the point where something ceases to exist; the conclusion; nearing a time when something is reaching completion; the opposite of beginning. I hear my friend about happy endings, but are they? Isn’t the end of something usually the opposite?
A few years ago, I lost a good friend. She stopped texting or communicating, didn’t respond to a birthday card I sent, and didn’t send her usual Christmas greeting. A mutual friend had the same experience. We talked about it.
“What do you think happened?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she needed a fresh start, and we reminded her of too many things.”
Like what? The past filled with our lunch dates at Whole Foods? Skinny dipping in the heat of summer? Laughing until our sides ached? I felt sad. Not only for the loss of friendship, but also because I couldn’t do anything about it. The friendship ended.
Recently, a relative, an acquaintance, and a new friend I’m getting to know had to put a loved one into assisted living—a mother, an uncle, a partner. In all three cases, their loved one struggled with the end of living at their home. They didn’t want to go. “Why me?” they cried. They lashed out. Shouting, cursing, and insulting their caregivers. They didn’t or couldn’t understand. They failed to recognize that the end was approaching.
My new friend shared, “Who can blame them? Who says, sure, I’ll go into long-term care! When can I go?”
The ending of a way of life, the ending of youth, the acceptance of health decline, the recognition of the body’s limitations. When to quit a sport before one seriously injures oneself. When to stop coloring one’s hair. When to leave a relationship. When to admit defeat. When to quit a habit. When to end things.
In the novel I’m currently writing, the ending continues to elude me. Should the heroine die? Do I weave in a tragic twist? What about something dark or disturbing? Maybe a cliffhanger? I can’t seem to find the exact right one yet, but I do know it will likely not be happy. Sorry Monica.
“If you want a happy ending, it all depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” Orson Welles
Enjoy the Passage of Time.
Sharon
© 2025. Sharon Kreider. All Rights Reserved.