He nods, as if to acknowledge that endings are almost always a little sad, even when there is something to look forward to on the other side. And he has learned during his travels that there’s a trick to the graceful exit. It begins with the banal vision to recognize when something is over — and let it go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance to our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving up, rather than out. But also, he knew, of course, that the action of turning a page, of ending a chapter or of shutting a book, did not end a tale. Having admitted that, he would also avow that happy endings were never difficult to find: It is simply a matter of finding a sunny place during a winter fairy tale, where the light is golden and the snow is soft; somewhere to rest, to stop reading, and to be content.
