How I Met Your Mother: stream of conciousness in the hours following the series finale

Did you not love UP? A story that ultimately was about a perfect love that was had, passed, but then one half was encouraged to continue living life, because you can’t possibly only love one person or thing in your life? Because life is full of adventures, and you’re allowed to have more than one, and someone who really, truly, purely loves you will want that for you. Sorry that’s not romantic enough?

This show is certainly hopelessly romantic, yet so grounded in reality.

What kind of expectations did you have of the finale? We had already met the mother. We already knew they’d be perfect together. For example, I knew, from the moment I started watching Breaking Bad, that Walter White had to die. I didn’t care or know how, but I knew he had to die. That was the only expectation I had of the series finale.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER has been less predictable than that (not that I didn’t enjoy Breaking Bad, or wasn’t surprised by numerous events).

The show has always been about Robyn. Everyone may’ve realized it at different times. I knew it was about Robyn at the end of the eighth season. I knew that the story of how Ted met the mother was completely based on his relationship with Robyn. As annoying as the ups and downs had been, his absolute lowest of aloneness and despair was Robyn’s wedding – where he meets the mother of his children.

People leave us when we’re not finished loving them. It’s just a fact. It’s not one we usually talk about or see in such a light-hearted sitcom (though they beautifully and perfectly touched on it with Marshall’s dad). Yes, we’d all like to think that life can’t or doesn’t continue after our soulmate passes on. Titanic happened to be on AMC a couple hours before the HIMYM finale. Wasn’t it bittersweet that she lived her life to the fullest?

Yes, it burns to think that Ted had always been in love with Robyn, even when he was with the mother. First, this show has never been about being perfect. It’s been a constant struggle to find perfection, but realizing that your idea of perfection will always be unattainable. Life gets in the way, and you better fucking enjoy it. Second, you have to keep in mind that a) 6 years have passed since the mother died; and b) Ted has happily lived his life outside of the story we’ve been told. As his kids, so to speak, we know everything that happened after Ted met the mother, and I for one like to think it was everything Ted imagined his life with his future wife would be.

As it was pointed out by the mother, Ted has been living in his stories. This show cannot be so simplified to how he met the mother. This show has been about his transformation to becoming the man who met the mother. It’s about ALL of the people he’s loved.

Don’t you think he was happy with Tracy while they were married? He may have pined for Robyn every now and then, but can you blame him after everything we know about their relationship?

The scene with the yellow umbrella was all I could’ve expected and wished of the series finale. I didn’t know it, but it’s exactly how I expected and wanted Ted to meet Tracy. That’s really all I could’ve asked for I guess.

All in all, an emotional roller coaster. One that I will probably ride over and over, and come to different conclusions every time.

AND ANOTHER THING: love is all we have, right? It doesn’t have to make sense, right? And didn’t the mother have to move on from the love of her life before meeting Ted?

I think a lot of people expected a marvelous, explosively romantic ending to the show, when in fact we had already MET the mother at the end of season 8 and throughout season 9. I’m not sure what people expected from the series finale in that sense, though I haven’t yet taken the time or built the emotional reserve to read other analyses and blogs.

AND YET ANOTHER THING: This article by Megan Garber starts to articulate how I feel about the series finale. As everyone continues to point out, YES, THE SHOW IS CALLED HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. And you know what? We met her. What more do you want? What more did you expect?

All Through the Daylight

After watching the most recent How I Met Your Mother, and after glancing over this article, I wonder for the first time since arriving in Atlanta: do I miss New York City?

I certainly get a knot in my stomach, thinking about all the things that could’ve been if I had stayed. I’d see my old friends. I’d be there for the great things. I’d explore new worlds. I’d experience things that just don’t exist anywhere else. But at the same time, I feel like Atlanta has embraced me in a way New York never would. It’s easy to be alone in NYC, and I liked that for a while. But here, I’m clearly part of a community. I feel important even to the people I don’t know. I see people on the street and think, “You and I may not know each other or be friends today, but we will be soon.”

I enjoy feeling like I’m part of something. As much as I found a place for myself in New York, I felt so incredibly lost. I had loved NYC so hard, and I couldn’t see a difference between what I wanted and what the City seemed to demand of me. I loved feeling like I was a small yet integral part of NYC. But eventually I lost that feeling and I changed. I’ll continue to change, and if I ever want to return, NYC will be there, but for now, Atlanta is home.