Have you ever watched The Middle? As a family we love the Hecks, and we were happy when the show's final episode resolved some lingering questions that had carried over several seasons: Will Axl take the job in Denver? Will Sue and Sean get together already? And, most pressing of all, where will that snow globe end up next?
At one point in the episode, Frankie demands that Mike stop the car, and there in the middle of nowhere she has a crying fit about all the changes happening in their family.
She cries because the changes herald the sobering reality that things will now different than what they used to be.
But as much as we would like time to stand still, the reality is that life is a progression of changes--in big, sweeping ways, or little ones that sneak up on you; in ways that bring tears of joy, or depths of despair. Minute to minute we experience change because, between the bookends of birth and death, changes are the stepping stones for this journey we call Life.
At the end of that final episode my son asked why the show was called The Middle, so we went through some possibilities: the Hecks are a middle class family, they live in the middle of America, they have three children and the odd number means someone is always caught in the middle.
Or maybe it's because in life we're always in the middle, living in the present but sandwiched between the past and the future. Then, the minute we step into the future we are in the middle again.
I might need a Frankie moment. I'm not sure if this will call for a hug, a tissue, a cookie, or some alone time, but maybe I'll start with a cappuccino.
That's always a good place to start.
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