So LOST Without You

It's the elephant in the room. We keep mulling about our daily lives, but the truth is lurking . . . LOST ends on Sunday. I'm torn between excitement for the big finish and disappointment at knowing it's over. Dirty anticipation and its delicious duality.

Wade and I came late to the LOST party; we were still holding out for The West Wing even though it was several seasons past actually being good. At the time, reality TV shows were reproducing like bunnies, and LOST somehow converged with Survivor in my estimation. And then Heather was generous, as ever, with her DVD library. Now just like Air Supply says, "I know that I was so wrong."

Following are some of the myriad life lessons LOST teases:

• You've gotta . . . "Make Your Own Kind of Music" (thank you Momma Cass, Desmond, and the Hatch).
• People are complicated and hard to judge.
• People can change.
• Baywatch and Lord of the Flies were always meant to be together.
  
• Good and bad are oh-so-connected.
• Being absolutely adorable can totally compensate for mediocre acting (yes you, Sawyer).
• Destiny and drudgery aren't too far apart.
  
• One more episode is like one more chocolate chip cookie: the hunger is insatiable.

So thank you, LOST, for giving me so many hours of escape from the ordinary, so many cheap date nights, so many cultish conversations. Thank you for getting me through two winters, two tax seasons, and a bajillion loads of laundry. Thanks for the Dharma jumpsuits, for Ben's goggly eyes, for Jack.

I'll miss you ever so.

P.S. Some parting gifts.
LOST Parody Harry Potter
LOST Parody Lord of the Rings
LOST Parody Pirates of the Carribean