From 9-17-08...this seemed appropriate

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.


~~ Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

On my way home from the store yesterday, the song "Closing Time" by Semisonic was playing on my compilation CD. That quote is used in the song, and it has always "spoken" to me...when it played yesterday, I was a little surprised to find tears spring immediately to my eyes. Well...not totally surprised, because that happens to me a lot. (Ask Ken!)

Maybe it's just that summer is coming to a close, and we'll soon be into winter. Winter always seems like an end, but I've also come to believe that it's a beginning. "Spring: The Prequel," if you will. There's a cycle in the seasons, just as there is in our lives. We've all felt the promise of a new beginning, but there's a measure of bittersweet in realizing that we are also leaving a part of us behind. Sometimes it's not bittersweet at all, and it's welcomed. Either way, it's turning a page in the book of our lives. Some of those pages aren't worth re-reading, but others can be revisited with fondness. I suspect that we all have certain pages that we wish were never written, or that we'd like to burn, but they are ours, like it or not. Some people simply re-write those pages, and re-invent the occurrences that have happened. These "mental editors" choose to tear those pages out and hide them away from others, but they still exist. Pages from our life book cannot be destroyed, no matter how hard you may try, or how desperately you try to cross out certain passages, or write over the lines. The ink is indelible, and while it might fade until almost illegible, it is never truly gone and can never be erased.

The song "Closing Time" is about something as mundane as shooing people out of a club when it closes. For those of us who used to go out dancing a lot--and I mean A LOT--we all know the bouncer's mantra: "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here!" Ha ha! At that time in my life, I was with someone who started out as a promising beginning...but that beginning ended...badly. The next beginning also seemed promising...and that one ended, too. (I wish I could re-write those parts...but I can't.) My next new beginning was the best one, and it's a story that is still unfolding. I enjoy reading each page as it is written, and can hardly wait to see what happens next.

So as the night winds down, the band packs up their gear, and the festivities come to a close, I know exactly who I want to take me home.

Closing Time

Closing time, open all the doors and let you out into the world

Closing time, turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl

Closing time, one last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer

Closing time, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

Take me home

Closing time, time for you to go out to the places you will be from

Closing time, this room won't be open till your brothers or your sisters come

So gather up your jackets, move into the exits

I hope you have found a friend

Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

Take me home

Closing time, time for you to go out to the places you will be from

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

Take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

I know who I want to take me home

Take me home

Closing time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end