Saying Good-bye

sen·ti·men·tal

[sen-tuh-men-tl] adjective

1. Expressive of or appealing to sentiment, especially the tender emotions and feelings, as love, pity, or nostalgia: a sentimental song.

2. Pertaining to or dependent on sentiment: We kept the old photograph for purely sentimental reasons.

3. Weakly emotional; mawkishly susceptible or tender: the sentimental Victorians.

4. Characterized by or showing sentiment or refined feeling.

I’m a pretty sentimental person (the 7-8 boxes in our bedroom labeled Jaime’s Memories will attest to that) and today I’m feeling sentimental about tonight being the last episode of The Office.

Brian and I had just been married & I can’t remember what the occasion was but Brian bought the first season of The Office. If I’m honest, I remember a lack of enthusiasm on my part because I’d only seen the British version and as much as I realized it was a funny show, I always had a hard time keeping up with their accents. How American do I sound right now?

Anyway, it didn’t take all 6 episodes of the first season for me to fall in love with the show - or more specifically, to fall in love with Jim and Pam. I love them. I love them more than I love a good pizza. When they had their rough patch this season, my heart hurt every week. I get that couples have challenges, but not Jim & Pam. Ok? Thanks. Last week, when Jim wanted to make sure Pam knew she was everything to him, he just HAD to go and give her a flashback montage to make me use all that was in me not to bawl and sob and heave like an idiot. If there’s anything that can undo me it’s a Jim & Pam montage.

I don’t really know why I’m writing, I guess I just feel like I need to grieve a little bit in writing. The Office has been one of the constants for me and Brian spanning our whole marriage. It has been right there with us since the beginning and each season will always take me back to a different time in our marriage; as newlyweds in our tiny little condo in the mountains, to our townhome in Westminster, to now, in our city loft in Glenwood Springs. In each place we’ve watched episode after episode after episode and have laughed together, sometimes until we cried.

Ever since I started working in the same building as Brian, I call us the “Jim and Pam” of our office. He’s always coming to see me.  We go on morning walks, afternoon walks, and we go to lunch together. I’m sure many people around the office secretly roll their eyes at us but I don’t care. I hope we can be the “Jim and Pam” of CMC for many years to come.

I’ve cried during just about every episode this month because it’s obvious each character is saying good-bye and I’m reluctant to let them go. Thank you, Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, Angela, Daryl, Andy, Creed, Stanley, Meredith, Phyllis, Kelly, Toby, Kevin, Erin, Oscar, Ryan, and all the rest for being our friends when we often didn't have many.

Ok, I’m done being a cheeseball.

“I wanted to leave quietly, it seemed dignified. But having Kevin grind up on my front, while Erin pretended to hump me from behind, it was a more accurate tribute to my years here. I'm gonna miss these guys.” –Daryl Philbin