On Ending

On Ending

As I drive away from sunny Panama City Beach, rain is falling in buckets on the roof of our car. Road trips in the rain are always soothing to me, that much cozier. (But I’m not the one who has to drive.) An exciting week of my life has ended, and I feel empty. Lost. Many memories were made this week, from just skipping barefoot in the sand to late night talks on “the box”. I will never get to live these memories again, no matter how hard I try.

But that’s what memories are for, right? To sort of relieve past moments that have so quickly passed. Memories keep the past alive, and without them, we truly would be lost. What would you do if you woke up a week from today and didn’t remember anything you did? No long term memory would be heartbreakingly terrible, so I’m glad we have the ability to remember the things we do.

Still, a memory is not the same as an experience. That’s why it is so painful to leave something behind, to let something end. A lot of things have ended for me recently, from the minuscule but monumental (My two weeks at camp and a three day school Disney trip) to life changing. The end of an era. The end of a decade. The end of a life. 

Ends of vacations are always so bittersweet; you are happy to return home but sad to leave a place where you have created so many memories. Endings bring pain, but they also bring beginnings.

With the end of one school comes another, with the end of one vacation comes a new event to look forward to. No matter how tough endings are, remember there is always a new beginning.

PS: speaking of endings, the FINAL Harry Potter movie comes out tonight…I am excited, but also morbidly terrified and depressed. If I could, I would honestly wait another two years for this to come out. Yes, I want to see it, but I don’t want it to end. Silly endings. (Expect a further post on the ending of a saga.)

 ~Kendall, Writer in Training