Endings

I'm sitting at my desk job in the Wellness Center, finishing my last shift (I've got 12 minutes left). I just completed Blink, the book I've been reading, and earlier today I went to my last college class and took my very last test. It's over. It's ended.

In the past few weeks, I've played my last intramural game, written my last paper, presented my last presentation, and said my last funny in class.

It's not just the events and milestones that are over, I've decided. It's a lot of friendships and people too. The people I always "do the nod" to on the Promenade, my field friends, my fellow RNs that I've had class with for four years, my neighbors I eat meals with, my weekend buddies, my late-night movie watching fries, the family...
Sure, I'll stay in contact with some, but others not at all. I mean really, I don't think everyone wants to read my Christmas letter! ;-)

Anthony Handal and I ate peanut butter & jelly sandwiches together for lunch today--the first peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we ate since finishing college--and we talked about endings. Anthony mused that God created endings for a real positive reason, just like beginnings. That makes since, I mean He's the Alpha & Omega, the Beginning and the End. He also had the Tree guarded so sin wouldn't last forever, and so we could all get another fresh start. So in someway or another, every ending is a promise of another beginning.

We celebrate beginnings--from birthdays and anniverseries to ship cristenings. But I guess we celebrate endings too with graduations and retirement parties. So maybe this blog isn't that profound with new thoughts on endings, but still. Endings are bittersweet.

So, as I finish this blog, my last blog as a college student, like after six hours after I wrote the first paragraph, here are my concluding thoughts:

Its okay for endings to still be bittersweat. Endings are filled with goody-byes and those are okay to mourn. But, there's a promise of another beginning. New adventures, new wonders, and even if those are scary, there's always another promise I can remember:

There's a beginning we can all share together--where we all get to live close to each other again--(you too, Amanda), where stress has no solace, and where we get to be with the Guy who put us all together. Don't miss it.

So, Cheers to Endings & the soon-to-be-beginnings!