HIMYM Memories: Days of Future Past

Our friends Robin and Barney get married tonight- and it will not go smoothly. Like so many other things about the wonderfully layered world of How I Met Your Mother, we know this because we we have seen the future. We know that Barney is going to freak out and wonder if he has chosen the correct "tie" to wear forever. We know that Robin is going to ask to see Ted. We can assume that Ted, who at this point has still not met the Mother (although we have) will be torn as he watches the love of his life ("There is no Top 5, Robin. There's a top one. And it's you!") marry one of his best friends. HIMYM is a show about old friends telling old stories. But along the way faithful viewers have also learned much about the futures of our 5 friends.

We know that Ted will meet the Mother, have two kids, and that as yet undetermined events will somehow cloud their future. We know Marshall and Lilly will live in Italy for a while and have a another child- a daughter named Daisy. Marshall will be come a Judge (Judge Fudge!). We know that Robin and Barney will continue to live large and legendary lives. And we know that these friends will continue to gather on a regular basis to attend Robots verses Wrestlers. We have seen enough of their lives going forward that we wish we were going to be able to share the future with them in the ame way we have shared so much of their pasts.

And that is part of what makes next week's finale feel like a sad occasion. As with all things HIMYM, it will be funny. It will be touching. It will be surprising. But there will also be sadness as we let go of these fictional friends forever. No more wonderful catchphrases (see chart at bottom). No more evenings at McLaren's. No chance of ever seeing Ted with blonde hair ("Pulling. It. OFF!") or the cockamouse again. No more Swarley or chances to be "lawyered." For faithful viewers, Monday nights will now have a huge, gaping hole that will be hard to fill. I know it's JUST a TV show. But I will miss it.

At the end of the very first episode, after we learn how Ted met Robin and immediately fell in love, Ted says to his two teenage children in the year 2030 "and that, kids, is the story of how I met your Aunt Robin." While his kids could see that this was going to be a very long story, we could see the future from the very beginning. And now we are at the end. Enjoy the wedding, Mother Lovers. And treasure the memories these 9 season have given us.  How many of these catchphrases can you use in context in daily conversation? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!