TV Teens and Bittersweet Goodbyes

I've been house-sitting with limited internet access, so it's been difficult to blog. I'm at work right now pretty much doing everything I can to procrastinate. I can't tell if it's been slower around here or if I've just grown incredibly lazy as my last day nears. I'm both dreading and counting the seconds until it arrives. I guess there's no such thing as a goodbye that's not bittersweet.

My all time favorite thing about house sitting is the cable. I hate to be watching so much television, but anyone who has cable doesn't understand how depriving it is not to be able to watch such quality programming as Saved By The Bell, Full House, Dawson's Creek, and all the other shows that we grew up with. I'll admit, for the most part, cable is generally pretty overrated, but there's something so satisfying about being able to rekindle my youth in such a frivolous way. It's funny (and maybe a little sad...okay, really sad) but I can remember lines to some of these episodes that I haven't seen since I was about fifteen.

More than that though, I remember the feelings I had first watching it. I remember how grown up they all seemed. Zack Morris with his charm and wit and let's face it, kick ass cell phone. How could you not be in love with him? We watched DJ and Stephanie and Michelle blossom into strong young women over the years (cue sappy, lesson-learning music). We held our breath as Joey and Dawson kissed for the first time, knowing that it was destiny. They taught us morals and important life skills. They taught us how to be the kind of teenagers we all aspired to be.

We aren't teenagers anymore. Eventually, we had to say goodbye to Zack and DJ and Joey. We had to say goodbye to the world of numbers that end in teen and accept our new lives as twenty-somethings. We've moved on from living vicariously through our TV teens into our own reality. It's different and scary and wonderful. Still, it's been nice these past couple days to return to a world of cheesy lines and ridiculous scenarios. I hadn't realized how much I missed it, but I guess there's no such thing as a goodbye that's not bittersweet. Cue sappy, lesson-learning music.