Over the years I've watched a lot of TV shows from start to finish- never missed an episode of 21 Jump Street in my teen years, saw EVERY episode of Beverly Hills 90210 ever created (at least twice), I haven't missed an episode of Lost yet, and I've seen every episode of Big Bang Theory too....
ER though, ER was special. Most people stopped watching it a few years ago, but I've continued to watch it, and I am sad to see it end. I had a real connection to that show for some reason- and I have a lot of memories tied around it.... maybe that's why I like it so much. Here's just a few of my life memories tied to ER....
ER premiered on September 19, 1994. Joe and I had gotten engaged about a month before that... and I remember sitting on my bed at my parent's house, flipping through bridal magazines and watching the first episode. I actually didn't watch most of that first season (this was pre-DVR and I was never really good at working the VCR to record shows...) because I was going to school, student teaching, working, and planning my wedding. The few episodes I did watch were following a car accident that November that totaled my car and put me out of commission for a few weeks. I spent most of that time in bed... and that's probably when I really started watching the show.
I watched ER through the first year of my marriage by myself. Joe was working and going to school- and he was pretty much never home when I was home. I was in my first year of teaching, and very lonely in my little apartment, so I spent every Thursday night with ER and a bowl of ice cream (and I wonder why I gained 15 pounds during my first year of marriage!).
From 1997-1999, I saw at least part of every episode of ER. I know this because these were the years that I spent EVERY Thursday night at school getting my Master's Degree. I would rush home from class, land in front of the TV, and watch ER with Joe. It was tradition- he would be waiting for me- usually with a bowl of ice cream (are we noticing a trend?)
My next ER memory was of an episode of ER that I DIDN'T get to watch. I had Julia on Thanksgiving Day of 2000- and ER always had great Thanksgiving episodes. I had been looking forward to seeing that one, but Julia had other ideas. And there just isn't TV watching when you are having a baby with no drugs! Anyway, I remember my mom coming into the room and telling me that Karen Schwartz and my dad were sitting in the waiting room watching ER together.
Starting in 2000, following Julia's birth, Thursday nights were really special. During these years I only worked part time (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)- so Thursday night was my 'Friday night.' I remember celebrating the beginning of many a weekend with, what else? a bowl of ice cream and ER.
The next memory is when I was pregnant with Colin and in the hospital. I was only 26 weeks along, in labor, and scared. We'd had a long meeting with the neonatologist earlier that day who had told us that if they couldn't stop the labor, Colin had about a 50% chance of survival- and that I needed to stay as still as possible, relax as much as possible, and hopefully let the drugs do their work. They had given Colin steroids to help speed the development of his lungs- and all we could do was wait and hope. Joe went home at some point to pick Julia up from my mom and dad's house and take her home to have some sense of normalcy to her routine. I laid in the bed, watched ER and prayed. It was one of the longest nights of my life. No ice cream that night, but I probably REALLY needed it!
Fast forward through the next few years... I remember sitting in the emergency room with Julia who had pneumonia, watching an ER rerun (I always thought it was ironic that they were showing ER reruns in the ER...). I remember sitting on the couch with Colin after he was stung by a scorpion watching ER and keeping him awake to make sure he was okay....
In the last few years, I've run MANY a mile on the treadmill while watching ER. Not as good as eating a bowl of ice cream while watching... but still good!
Needless to say, ER for some reason, is tied to a lot of very emotional moments in my life- some good- some bad. I think it's crazy that I have such a connection to a TV show- to be so upset about it ending... I mean it's just a show, with characters who aren't real... but for some reason my adult life has really been connected to this show. I went from being a kid to an adult to a parent while watching this TV show- and as the characters grew and changed, so did I.
Who knows what the next show will be and how it will connect to my life... but I can't wait to find out!
Have any of you had a connection like this to a TV show? I'd love to hear about it....
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