In Memoriam: Endings Most Beautiful

It's been a day shy of three weeks from my last blog post. A lot of life's goings on have happened since that day, but nothing so tragic as what I want to share.

A quick note: I had no idea what I wanted to blog about, hence my stagnation. The thought came to just write about Regolith's progress or ramble about insanely, but none of that felt good enough.

Now... To the story.

Last week, I woke up one morning and set about my usual routine. Take the dog outside, come in, clean myself up, etc. However, this day was different. My dad had left the house early for errands and had left me a note on the table.

It said: "Call me if the car is done."
Fair enough. My car (which is named Kiryu. Just a head's up if I ever refer to a 'Kiryu') was being repaired after the bumper was damaged. There was... More writing.
"Joe Penny passed away."

The words didn't make sense to me at first until it came full circle.
Our guinea pig, Joe Penny, passed away during the night due to old age.

It was heartbreaking, to say the least. I spent most of the day breaking into teary fits because of the pain of loss. I had lost pets before, mind you, but it still hurts a lot to see another one cross the rainbow bridge.

During the day, my wonderful girlfriend sent me beautiful condolence flowers and... A miraculous collection of thoughts hit me.

Joe Penny had reached the end of his story in the most beautiful fashion imaginable. He passed, warm and safe, well-fed, a freshly cleaned cage, and surrounded by his slumbering family. When we found him, he had gone laying in the position he laid in most often. He was content, comfortable, and ready to pass.
The revelation over the beauty of this still brings me to tears.

That's when I realized, endings are meant to be beautiful. Too often, I believe people focus on the 'happily ever after' aspect of a story. But what happens at the very end of the story? When those characters pass, their lives flicker, their bodies fade, and their stories are closed. The book of life gently placed upon the shelf of eternity for all to read and to tell their tale.

For real people, we strive to write the greatest stories of life. We climb to the heavens, challenge darkness, and fight demons. We save the prince or princess, find happiness, and find true love. All of those tropes are fine. When we pass, we have such services to honor those and tell of their works again and again; desperately hoping that our children and grandchildren and friends and family don't forget us.

I know I'm focusing an awful lot on death as an ending right now, so I'll switch it up.

People sometimes refer to their life in chapters or acts. Five years ago, as I was preparing to move from the town I lived in for fifteen years or so, I made sure to dismantle my computer last. With it, I logged into Facebook and posted a status about how it was the end of the second act of my life. It really was, but it was beautiful in the fact that a new future was beginning.

The endings of my stories are a tad harder to write. I have a series in mind while trying to write a stand alone entry. It's hard. Regrettably, Rising Seas ends on an odd cliff hanger that I have to resolve somehow.

The end of a story of fiction is like say a good bye to friends you've made over the last fifty or more pages.

Circling back a little, I'd like to mention something my dad says at every funeral he preaches at:
"I don't believe someone is ever truly gone. They live on (And their story goes on) as long as we keep their memory in your heart."

Thanks for reading!