Happily Ever After by Bea Tifton

It’s almost Christmas and we are watching a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies in my household. Many people make fun of Hallmark movies, but there’s a reason those movies are so popular. People love a happy ending. Most people, even people who don’t realize it, have a romantic spot in their hearts. The people in these movies are good people and they fall in love with other good people. However improbable the situation, we suspend our disbelief because we want to know that they end up together. Sigh.

I have belonged to several book clubs through the years, including leading and choosing books. They all had great people in them, but one group of women in particular felt that books with happy endings were unrealistic and without merit. Those people didn’t seem inordinately unhappy, but, really?  Every time two people ended up together or the book ended happily in some way, tied up with a neat ribbon, those people would pan the book. They wanted a book catharsis, real life is difficult, situations don’t really have those tidy little endings, etc. I finally decided that even though I love talking about books with people, and I do, I was going to go rogue and read the books I wanted. Life is hard, not to mention chaotic and unpredictable. The news is stressful and realistic enough.   I feel books with happy endings can be excellent, well written books, and I need to read something that I know will turn out well.

And as far happy couples being unrealistic? I always bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say, “Wow. What happened to you?” My parents are coming up on their 60^th wedding anniversary. When I was younger, there was an elderly couple I liked and admired in my church. They had this easy familiarity with each other and their mutual love and affection was obvious in the way they spoke and looked at each other in any interaction.  Each Sunday as they walked to their car after the service, I watched as they quietly joined hands for the walk together. It never failed to touch my heart.

So I say, watch those movies! Read those books! Be proud that you are still open to life and love!  And above all, live happily ever after.

Photo Credits: Pexels.com
Pixabay "Full Length of Happy Friends in Snow on Field"
Helen Lopes "People Drinking Liquor and Talking on Dining Table Close-Up Photo"
Vlada Karpovich "Happy Elderly Couple Holding Hands"
Andrea Piacquadio "Woman Open Arms While Close-eyed Smiling Photo"