The End of a Series..

So all this commotion about the end of LOST has really had me thinking about things lately. You know, I didn't start watching LOST at all until this summer. In fact, I'm still stuck in season 2 because I haven't quite had enough time to get in a good marathon day or two. I'm still wondering what all the numbers mean, still just beginning to hate charlie, and still thinking Shannon should be the next character to bite the proverbial bullet (Even though LOST wouldn't let someone die in such a conventional way). But that's just me and where I'm at. I can't help but to go to any news source, including facebook, and see that people have commented on the season finale. ALl the questions left unanswered, and which character we will miss the most. It's flooded the airwaves.


And I suppose the point is this: The end of a TV series really effects us in some strange way. Seinfeld. Friends. MASH. Whatever it is, people seem drawn to television series. Its part of their lives. It's a part of them. Just like how sports teams you love become part of you. Somehow, the outcome of a game changes your life. This team really does nothing for US! we pay the salaries, and we look up to players whom we've never met, and who do not care about us in any sort of personal way. Yet, when they lose, we take it personally. I feel like this is the same with tv series. When it's on, we take it for granted even. But we feel sick when a favorite character dies. We feel hate when a character betrays another. Why? It's merely entertainment. But we've become attached. And then, when it's all over, we really really miss it.


I bring you back to graduation day for high school. Marysville-Pilchuck Class of 2005. In the days previous to the actual graduation, we had spent countless hours practicing the actual ceremony in the school gym. Each of us couldn't wait to graduate, and move on to bigger and better things. "real life" we called it. We'd show up, sit next to those that were alphabetically arraigned next to us, and chatter just like any other day of high school. Finally, the night came for actual graduation. We packed on a bus, and went to the Everett Events Center. I couldn't believe how many people showed up to watch us graduate. We walked out from under the stands, and saw thousands of people excited for US. If I had known better, I would have chalked my hands ala Lebron and slapped them in the air. That would have gotten the crowd going. I had the opportunity to speak at graduation. I started off with a quote from Albus Dumbledore. And I spoke about the future, and how we would go on to do great and wonderful things. How each of us would reach our potentials, and become all that had dreamed we'd become.

It was exciting. We graduated. A few of us trickled off to various graduation parties. A few to dinner with parents and relatives, and a portion of us went to the school-sponsored graduation party. It was an all-night affair. We hung out with our closest friends, vowing to hang out forever. Brittney Spears of Crossroads would have been jealous of the promises made between my friends and I. BFF's.


Little did we know, those would be some of the last time we saw each other. People moved on, people disappeared, people went to school, people got married, people got pregnant. And most of all, people just became their own person. They made new friends, worked for new people, and changed.

Maybe for the first time in our young lives, we learned that it's okay for things to be done. It's okay for things to be over. We'll move on, and move forward. It was okay to be done with highschool and everything that happened there. It was fine to find new friends, experience new adventures, and become new people. It's okay for LOST to be over, and 24, and Friends, and Seinfeld. You love something, and you cherish the time you have, and when it ends, you're just happy to be a part of it.


Harry Potter is done with. I'm sad that book 8 isn't coming out soon. It's unsettling that I can't wait in line at Barnes and Noble for the next copy and be so excited for it.


There are many other examples of this. And what I'm saying is that it's great to be a part of something and to experience things. And just because I don't see someone as much doesn't mean I can't care for them still. But also, I realize that things will arise that cause things to end, and when they end I just want them to stay as great memories.


That was a little too deep to dedicate to LOST. But lost always was a little deep, wasn't it?