I don't want to be anything other than me.

They say you never know how much something means until it ends,
I never knew how much of an impact One Tree Hill had on my life until I watched the series finale tonight.

You aren't supposed to live your live vicariously or through a tv show,
but I don't think that is what it is about or why people connect with a show for so many years.
It isn't about an unhealthy connection to a celebrity,
or wishing your life looked like theirs.
Mark Schwahn did a phenomenal job of creating characters that you can see yourself in,
and allow you to believe that tomorrow could be brighter.

Tonight reminded me of the many times the show did that for me,
it has been around for me between the ages of 14 and 22.
Talk about fitting.
The amount of change, indecision, and figuring out who you are happens in overload during those years.
Tonight's recap and finale brought back the beginning ideas of what writing and creating something special can do.
One Tree Hill has had a loyal audience for almost a decade because of its acknowledgement of what it was doing.
The cast and crew connected with each other and the fans to produce material that meant something,
Yes, in my opinion, the post season six era wasn't the best.
I've still seen every episode since.

I guess what I want to say is,
Thank you.
Good material of any kind allows you to find new things in yourself,
One Tree Hill started my production interests in television and music almost a decade ago.
It lasted longer than the others of its kind because it connected the audience on more than one level.
Congratulations to everyone involved on creating something that means so much to a core part of peoples' lives and memories.
"It was special because it was where everything happened for the first time,"
That is what it meant then and still means now.
Thank you for pushing me to be a dreamer back then and believing in myself,
and seeing what is special about art in television.
It began the inspiration for what I want to do with the rest of my life,
I can only hope to be apart of something that can do the same for another generation.