Desperate Houswives 2004-2012

Eight years ago my friend Tracy told me to try and catch a new show called Desperate Housewives. I watched the pilot and thought, wow, this could be good. I watched the first few episodes and although I was not hardcore into it, I had to know what was going to happen next. By the end of season one, I was hooked.
So the show became a big hit, the housewives were all over the media.
Season two came along and although it was not as good as season one, I was already sucked into the story. It becomes a part of my Sunday night, eventually it BECAME my Sunday night. I would plan around it. It was the one show I could NOT miss.
Slowly, and year by year, I become more involved. Ratings dropped, but I didn't care. By season 3, I wanted to live on Wisteria Lane and be friends with these ladies.
Season 4, season 5, season 6, season 7, and last season 8. Sucked into it. I own all the dvd's, not only that, but I actually sit and watch them.
To an outsider who has never been into the series, it was easy to make fun of a bunch of upper middle class moms and housewives from the suburbs. But anyone who was a true fan, knew it was about so much more.
Desperate Housewives was about secrets, secrets we all carry. How much do you really know about your family and friends? How much do you know about you neighbors? Did you know most of us are all carrying around a secret? Baggage. We all have it. A past. A darkness only we know about.
Desperate Housewives was about the faces we wear to hide who we really are. We smile, we laugh, we cry, we joke. But to very few do we open our lives to, do we bare out souls to.
Desperate Housewives was about women. Moms, daughters, sons, friends, lovers, husbands, boyfriends, sisters, children. In each housewife, we can find someone we personally know. We all know a Bree. Someone who strives for perfection in a messy, ugly world. Inside Bree feels less than she is worth. We all know a Gaby. Someone who is a little vein, a little spoiled, someone who was hurt as a child. We all know a Lynette. Someone who wants to be in charge, have control, someone who had no control over her life. We all know a Susan. Someone who looked for love so hard she lost herself and who she was. Someone trusting and good to a fault. That single mom who wants a better life for her children.
And we all know a Mary Alice. Someone who wanted to be good, but could not overcome her own past, could not fight those demons. So she ends her life with as much grace and she can. She was pushed into killing herself over judegment and fear.
The last 8 years I invited these ladies, along with their family and friends into my home and my life, and I learned someone from each of them. That it's okay to have a secret. No matter how bad that secret may be. It's okay to be human, to make mistakes. And it's okay to FORGIVE and move on.
Best of all, Desperate Housewives was about one of the strongest bonds on this planet, friendship. Some people come and go, even husbands and wives. Children grow up and move on. But think back 5, 10, 20 years ago, or more. WHO was there who did not have to be? And who is still there?
That's what Desperate Housewives meant to me. And it broke my heart to see it go.