Coming or Going

June 24, 2021

Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers:

"Where's Papa going with that axe?"

The opening line of Charlotte's Web is one of the most compelling in all of children's literature. Where IS Papa going with that axe? That one sentence launches us brilliantly into the next 192 pages, and part of E.B. White's genius is that everything, everything that happens is shaped by those six little words.

Starting off on the right foot matters. But I think endings matter even more. Our lives are composed of story arcs small and large, and how we bring one to conclusion determines how we incorporate its meaning into our lives. End even a difficult chapter with grace, with class, with a little a ta-da!, and the story will cast a rosy glow over the rest of life. End it with a fizzle and it will fade into irrelevance and be forgotten. End it with bitterness and the whole story will be colored black for the regret to linger forever.

I've been saying throughout the pandemic that we should think about what story we want our kids to tell about it someday, and then write the ending that way as a family. But it's equally important to help others as they do the same: If we can help close someone's tragedy with quiet but solid support, the survivors get to look back on the hard time through the lens of our love for them. And there are a thousand quiet ways to foster community unity, such as patronizing favorite local businesses, to help us all bring this difficult chapter to an end and get us oriented to a new beginning, a story that will be much more fun to tell.

It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.

See how important the ending is? Coming or going, Elwyn Brooks White knew what he was doing.

—Deb