I am a sucker for a happy ending. If I spend the time to watch a movie or ~gasp~ an entire tv series and there isn’t a happy ending then what was the point??
While I love an ending that ties everything up together in a neat little gift-wrapped box, I think what I love most is the endless possibilities that can come after the “end.”
I recently interviewed my mom for a project I’m working on where I asked her a series of questions. One of the questions is along the lines of “What is one of your happiest memories?” I had ideas of what her answer might be, but I was a little surprised when she said “Post-party wrap up.” This is what our family refers to as the time after a gathering like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner where the people who are still around hang out in the living room and chat. Immediately I understood why this is the best part for my mom. On these holidays where everyone is together for one of the few times during the year, my mom spends most of the day into the night on her feet in the kitchen making food for all the people. After everyone is fed, she can finally relax, catch up with family and enjoy the company.
This got me thinking — if my life was a movie that led to a specific ending, I would miss out on SO much. For example, if we’re focusing on Christmas dinner. The credits would start after everyone sits down to eat, the camera pulls away as snow begins to fall in the background and the people are laughing and scooping green jello and sweet potatoes onto their plates.
The audience would never get to see (and I wouldn’t experience) our intense game of Catchphrase where we end up laughing until it hurts or the midnight gossip sessions about anything and everything.
Another example is my life as a Hallmark movie (can always count Hallmark for happy endings) that ends with my wedding. In this version, I don’t get to experience my kids throwing goldfish in the car or growing old with the person I love, or even my honeymoon — how boring!!
While life isn’t always as perfect as a Hallmark movie or as treacherous as Game of Thrones (if I was a character in GOT, I would not survive past season 1) I’m becoming more and more grateful for the experiences and time I have with the people most important to me. As I said earlier, the appeal of a happy ending is the possibility of everything being wonderful afterwards. In real life, we are lucky enough to experience wonderful things all the time. Whether it’s walking your dog on a crisp fall morning or seeing a friend get married to the love of her life, I’m feeling very fortunate that life isn’t a movie because there isn’t a two hour time limit.
