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

This is one of my favorite lines from the song Closing Time by Semisonic. Not only was this song used in my high school graduation, but it also reminds me that with every beginning, something else is ending.

This has been a key theme the past few days as my little sister picks out ‘the dress’, other dresses, flowers, decor, and all that is necessary these days for a wedding. As her life as a single comes to an end, we are looking at the new beginning with a brother-in-law and uncle entering our life.

So what is coming to an end? For those of us who are married, can you even remember what it was like before? It makes me think about what I sometimes miss from my single life. Here are a few:

• Not sharing a bathroom or closet
• Never having to choose which holidays will be with my family and which I will miss
• Any mess in the house is MY mess, not someone else’s that I am expected to clean up
• Total control of the remote and watching whatever I want, whenever I want
• Cereal for supper

These are fairly trivial when I think of all that is gained. So, even though we will now share my sister with her new family, we also get to share her new husband. And we cannot wait for this new beginning to begin.