I Won't Forget You, Schmosby

There's scene late in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (one of my favorite movies) where the protagonist is confronted by his love interest about the fact that soon she'll be erased from his memory and he won't be able to recall ever having known her.  "It's all gonna be gone soon", she says.  "What do we do?"  Our protagonist, having realized the importance of the part she has played in his life, simply says "Enjoy it".

I bring that up, because Monday night, How I Met Your Mother will run its final episode.  Ted will finally meet the love of his life.  Marshall and Lily will head off for their life in Italy.  Barney and Robin will take off for their life together.  It's all gonna be over soon, and all that we can do is enjoy it.

I haven't been a fan of HIMYM from the start.  In fact, I was still a movie snob when friends first started telling me about the show.  I was like, "It's a sitcom.  How good can it be?"  After listening to my buddy Ryan's seemingly constant ravings, I decided to sit down and watch it, if only to collect ammunition to help me argue with him effectively about the show's lameness.  I didn't get to argue, however, because I found that I was actually enjoying the show.  In fact, How I Met Your Mother quickly became one of my favorite TV shows, one of the few shows I actually attempted to catch when it airs every week.  Monday night, that'll all be over.

Like most fans of the show, I have plenty of warm comfortable memories of Ted's quest for love, as well as the misadventures of Robin, Barney, Marshall, and Lily.  Here are a few things I won't ever forget about How I Met Your Mother.  Stuff I learned from the show.  Crap like that:

• Stories are important, not because of the events that transpire in them, but because of the people attached to them.
• Some practical jokes are to risky to attempt, especially if they involve exploding food items.
• You may be worried that you haven't met THE ONE (not Neo) yet, but you can trust in the fact that he or she is trying to get to you as fast as he or she can.
• It's the different penguins who get left out in the cold.  (That's not very motivational...)
• It's the small and silly things that really make friendships worth having.
• The solution to over-thinking is probably not over-drinking.
• If a woman leaves you at the alter for her screenwriter ex-boyfriend, you WILL wind up as the bad guy is a terrible chick flick.
• Something can be meant to be if you mean it to be.  Then you just have to make it rain.
• People with really high-paying office jobs really don't do much other than shred documents and pull pranks on their co-workers.
• The Naked Man works two out of three times.
• A woman can be crazy as long as she's proportionally hot.
• You absolutely can grow up without getting old.  Look at Marshall and Lily.
• Sometimes, old things need to be blown up so newer better things can be built in their place.
• Clothes do make the man, but only if those clothes are suits.
• If you meet somebody you wanna keep in your life, you have to do something about it.
• It's pronounced "en-cy-clo-PAY-di-a".
• Don't give up.  Hold on to hope.  Your happy ending is out there, if you keep the faith that you'll find it.

I'm gonna miss this group of characters.  I'll miss their catchphrases, their over-blown antics, and their ridiculous opinions.  I'll miss the Slap Bets, the mystery of the pineapple, the goat fights, and the musical numbers.  I'll miss the laser tag outings, Ted's hot girlfriends, the Canadian pop songs, and the Fiero.  But most of all, I'll miss this group of people who have been so much fun to hang out with over the past few years.  I can only hope that I can be that kind of friend these folks are to one another to my friends.  So long, Barney and Robin.  Arrivederci, Marshall and Lily.  Catch you later, Mr. Mosby.  I won't forget any of you.  Sing us out, will you, Poison?