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By Lisa Batten Kunkleman As a writer and parent, I know the importance of inspiration for new ideas. For me, nature and especially the beach are where my five senses heighten like hair standing up in gooseflesh. Thoughts flow in faster than I can put them into long-term memory. Taking photos helps me […]
By Lisa Batten Kunkleman How is it possible to clean out my fridge, using my large sink as a holding spot for discards, filling said sink with outdated bottles and jars of condiments and beet remains while still ending up with a chockfull fridge? Dang! It hardly looks any different from when I started except […]
By Lisa Batten Kunkleman The birds flew back into our empty nest. Quiet slipped out the back door, to be replaced by chatter, showers, cars and friends galore. The living room became a drop off spot for book bags, jackets, and laptops. Oh, and shoes, brass instruments and music stands. They’re ba-ack. And oh how […]
I used to stroll our three babies through the mall in their extra- long, stadium-style triple stroller. Every few yards, people said, “You really have your hands full,” or, “Better you than me.” Now friends say, “How’re you doing?” and “I’m praying for you,” and “It must be so quiet at your house with […]
I recently heard that belly fat or as it is lovingly called, a muffin top, is actually a repository for wisdom and memories we don’t often use. When the cauliflower-sized brain in our head gets filled up, all that reserve must go somewhere. I can totally believe in the muffin-belly storage compartment theory but looking […]
Squabble, Tiff, or Spat: Just Fix It It’s amazing how a small thing can turn into a large, loud, ridiculous argument in a flippin’ fuschia minute. (That’s a play on red-hot minute) Mere seconds before, life is coasting along fine and suddenly, one person’s mouth opens and says something without knowing it will be taken […]
Letter to my Children about Happy and Unhappy Endings
By Lisa Kunkleman
How do we know if it’s an unhappy ending? Is anything really an ending or just a step toward something else? I remember talking to a wise man about how much I was going to miss having a baby around the house, once our first child grew out of all that cuteness and we’d no longer walk around the colorful paraphernalia that filled every room. How would we feel about her independence and clearing the path for her to walk away from us?”
That very wise man told me that for every thing you lose from that baby stage, you get something even more special with each new stage. As a child grows in size and independence, she also grows in ability to communicate and there’s nothing quite like enjoying the changes in communication through the years.
He said, “Just wait till she’s nine. That’s such a fun age. And what conversations you will have. For all the happiness you think is ending, you’ll receive new happy beginnings.”
Now I understand that what seems like endings are just the long continuum of life and the joys, sorrows, and surprises it brings.The transition is so smooth that you hardly know when you’ve seen the last this or that as you pick up a new other. I’m not sure I believe in happy or unhappy endings unless it’s in a book or movie where there’s no sequel. Even then, if enough people ask for it, sometimes there’s another chapter to that story; there’s always more to come.
You may think you didn’t get the happy ending you wanted; you may rationalize that this is the way it was meant to be. I’d say, this might not be the end of the story. I’m waiting for the sequel.
And Evil Is Her Name By Lisa Kunkleman My husband just texted me asking, “What evil are you up to?” He started calling me Evil when I asked him to stop calling me Sweet Thing when he is being sarcastic. I said, “I’d rather you call me Evil or even Sweevil than call me Sweet […]
