The One with the 25th Anniversary
These days it seems like everyone is a "Friends" fan. You can't go many places without hearing a reference to the sitcom or someone wearing some kind of memorabilia from the show.
While the show was still on the air, I took a tour of Warner Brothers Studio multiple times. We were able to sit in the studio audience where they showed us the set of Monica's place, Joey's apartment and Central Perk. I got my picture on the couch right after they wrapped filming, but again, still didn't quite understand the magnitude of what that meant. I was too young to get the hype of it at the time. I knew it was one of the best and biggest comedies on television, and it seemed cool, but that was the extent of it. I watched the finale when it aired and while I teared up at the ending of an era, it still wasn't something I was connected to.
When I was a junior in high school, I started watching it on TBS. My grandma was in the hospital and my dad would visit her a couple nights during the week. During those nights, my mom and I would make dinner and watch the reruns. It became my safe spot. The thing I could count on when my world was in a topsy turvy state.
My freshmen year of college, I made it a goal of mine to watch all of them from the beginning. I binged before it was a "thing" with DVD's, buying all of the seasons when they were on sale around the holidays. Like all of my favorite TV shows have, it found me at the right time. A time when most of my friends and I were going to different colleges, some were moving away. Things were changing and I wasn't quite ready for it. It was a time of figuring out what was going to come next.
These people became my friends. The people I could count on. The ones who could make me laugh. The ones who made me feel like life was going to be okay, even when it really didn't feel like it was.
As I've gotten older, I've started to relate more to the characters. The storylines. And having the time of your life in your 20's...Or not. It's still the show I turn to when I need a laugh. When I don't know what to do. When I'm sick. When I'm lonely. When my friends aren't free to hang out. It's always there. Sure, some things are a little outdated and perspectives on certain issues have changed and made a lot of progress, I feel like the core of the characters and the things they're dealing with are the same.
I've bonded over it with my aunt and friends. It's brought us closer together - our favorite episodes, famous one-liners and the style. It's a fun thing to have.
I'm thankful for the memories, the good times, the laughs and helping my love for television grow.
That's all for now,
Shelby