C
S H A H I N T A K E S O F F
108 AMERICANWAY
DECEMBER 15 2008
ILLUSTRATIONBYAMANDADUFFY
Wow, talk about the meta. Here
I am conversing about a thought I
think someone is having aboutme.
Anyway, wherewas I?
Oh, yeah. Getting philosophical
and endings.What I am saying is that
you may have a dim sense of how things
will end, youmay have a strong sense of the
ending. Butmore often than not, you are sur-
prised.
DESPITE THE PLANS
we painstakingly de-
velop and the schedules and to-do lists we
concoct to achieve those plans, we are inevi-
tably tripped up by a patch of black ice. That
is, things come along thatwe can’t foresee.
Sometimes, it’s falling in love. Well, that
wasn’t supposed to happen. Sometimes, it’s
falling out of love. That really wasn’t sup-
posed to happen.
Sometimes, it is anaccident ona ski slope.
Or an unexpected visit from a friend. Or a pi-
ano falling on your head from a fourth-story
window. (Hey, it happens in cartoons all the
time.)
Whatever it is, the unforeseen makes the
ending unknowable. Sometimes, the ending
hits you, bam, like a baseball bat to the skull.
Other times, it sneaks up on you quietly and
unnoticed, like a bug up your leg. And then
there are those times that you see it coming.
You know it has to be this way, you feel the
ending approach, yetwhen it comes, you still
can’t quite believe it.
I like to think that agoodending is like the
last chord in the Beatles’ “ADay in the Life.”
It lingers beyond its moment, reverberating,
causingyou topause, to reflect, to feel a feel-
ing youperhaps can’t identify.
But I am turning philosophical again. And
I see Lou over there snickering and Judy
shushing him. Hey, Judester, it’s okay. You
guys helpedkeep this partygoin’—y’all have
license todo anything youwant.
I know I have gone on awhile.
So letmewrap this baby up.
Before I do— see, I told ya you shouldn’t
have letmehave that lastdrink— I justwant
to ask a couple of people out there to stand
up.Mywife, Jessica, andmy son, Sam.
Go ahead, stand up. Through all these
years, you guys, well, I scarcely have words.
Sam, you have taught me so much … about
independence, about perseverance, about
finding one’s direction, and, of course, about
how to make Chinese fried rice. Jessica, no
one, and I mean no one, could possibly fill
your shoes (and I think you know the shoes
I’m talking about). You have been an inspira-
tion, a comfort, and, maybe most of all, the
greatest good sport aguy could ask for.
Thank you.
Onefinal thing.Thankstomy long-suffering
familymembers and friends for their help—
oftengivenunwittingly, Ishouldacknowledge
— their tolerance, and theirhumor. Especially
mymom. Keep sending those pies,Ma.
And thanks to all of you, those who are
here now, those who are not. Those I know,
those I don’t. Thanks for letting me hang
aroundwith you.
Andnow, a toast.
To endings.
In the words of T.S. Eliot: “For last year’s
words belong to last year’s language. And
next year’swordsawaitanothervoice.And to
make an end is tomake abeginning.”
To endings.
Jim Shahin has written a column on the tra-
vails of modern times for
AmericanWay
for
15 years. This is his last one. He appreciates
the correspondence he has received from
readers over the years. If you want to stay
in touch, you can reachhimat jimshahin@aol
.comandat his Facebook page.
Clink.
Clink, clink.
’Scuseme…
Clink, clink, clink.
Sorry to interrupt … I just …
Clink.
Thanks… sorry… thank you…
I know we’re all enjoying this marvelous
party — and, by the way, thanks, Doug, for
inviting me, and thanks, Sherri, for hosting.
This thing has been agas.
But it is getting late, and so, beforewe all
dragourselves into the too-bright light of the
emerging dawn, I thought I would take just
aminute to— hey, Melissa, I see you rolling
your eyes over there.
Okay, letme get to it.
I don’t need to tell you that the past year
was, how can I put this? Well, to borrow a
metaphor from theworldof parties, last year
had a bad case of the dry heaves. I hope no-
body here will end up with a literal case of
the same.
The point is, I think all of us look forward
to this year being overwith.
So, why not celebrate endings?
Who hasn’t looked forward to ending
something? A relationship? Dinner with the
in-laws? A performance evaluation in your
boss’s office?
In college journalism textbooks, they de-
vote a lot of space to the lead paragraph
— how to begin a piece, what techniques to
use to grab the reader and pull him into the
article.
What they don’t much talk about is how
to end the darn thing.Maybe that is because,
despite the outlines, the drafts, and the plans
wemake for our stories, the ending is rarely
fully known.
Forgive me for getting a little philosophi-
cal. It must be the Champagne. Or maybe
the scotch. Thewine?Hmmm, maybe I’m the
one who needs to be on guard for those dry
heaves.
I can see the thoughtsgoing throughMar-
ion’s head:
Come on, already, enoughwith the
meta.
You’re right. Thanks.
To readJim’s columns fromprevious issues,
go to
www.americanwaymag.com
.
By JimShahin
ANew
Year’sToast:
toEndings
