How I Met Your Mother has been a staple show in our household for the past nine years. My husband and I stumbled upon the show early on in the first season and we were instantly hooked. We have literally grown up with this show. We met the same year it started, we got engaged, got married, had a child – and this show was right there for us, every Monday, like an old friend.

After watching the Series Finale last night, I feel lost. Not only has one of my favorite shows ended, but as many of you would agree, I feel jilted and upset at the ending we witnessed.

Stop reading if you haven’t watched yet. SPOILERS.

First of all, my favorite part about this show is the undying friendship, the love, this group of people have always felt for each other. I want to have friends like that. I want to go to MacLaren’s and have a drink. They made it through so many obstacles, and despite five very different personalities, there was no doubt that Marshall, Lily, Robin, Ted, and Barney were in it for the long haul. Yet in the finale, we find out quickly that everyone basically fell apart. They lost touch, they became distant. Unrealistic to me. These people spent so much of their adult lives together. I don’t believe they would let these precious relationships die. It almost invalidated the entire show, the central theme. And haven’t we seen numerous clips into the future with the group together (college reunion, Lily and Robin in the hats drinking the wine, etc.)

This entire season we’ve spent our time at the wedding weekend of our beloved Robin and Barney, a couple I have been rooting for – for a LONG time. And I have LOVED this season, every single episode. We witnessed the evolution of Barney (or so we THOUGHT). We watched him finally realize that this was it, Robin was the girl. These two were perfect for one another. Robin with her tough exterior and “bro” like mentality, and Barney with his need to be with a woman like Robin, someone to keep him in line, but someone who he could still be Barney with. I mean he got rid of the Playbook for her, really? Then in the first 20 minutes we find out they lasted a measly three years and just gave up??? Just because Robin became successful and traveled the world? What a joke!

We witnessed Ted finally letting Robin go (or so we THOUGHT), realizing that she would always be a part of his life, but he wasn’t in love with her anymore.

And why the hell was Josh Radnor narrating and not Bob Saget? Another strange twist.

Marshall and Lily have always been my ideal couple, but I HATE that they left the apartment. Why did we have to see our favorite place empty? Just rip out my heart and stomp on it, writers! They could have at least celebrated inside, hung up the Intervention sign, watched some Robin Sparkles videos, anything, to bring us back to the good old days. Why not a party with some of our old favorites? The Doppelgangers, James Van Der Beek, anyone!!

Barney. A perfect month, getting number 31 pregnant? Way to take all we loved about Barney and ruin it for us. We all knew deep down he was a good guy, and then we turn him into a further womanizer, randomly getting a girl pregnant (whom we never even meet, they could have at least found love). Neil Patrick Harris did have an awesome scene with his little girl, which I loved, but I don’t like the way Barney was ultimately represented.

As for our mother character, Tracy, don’t even get me started. We wait nine seasons to meet her. We wait with bated breath each episode, gathering clues over the past nine years, getting excited when the clues make sense, when we can tie it all together, and then we literally have less than 15 minutes of screen time with her when it matters.

Tracy had been an integral part in each of the gang’s lives before finding Ted, meeting each and every one, and offering them advice, and Ted never even got to realize that. I wanted him to have that moment, to see that each of his best friends (even Robin) had been affected by this mystery woman, his future.

And there’s no way that Ted and Tracy would have two kids and wait five years before actually tying the knot. Getting married, finding the one, that was Ted’s main goal in life. I hated that his traditional and ultra-romantic life suddenly became non-traditional and all over the place. That’s not our Ted. Oh, and let’s have us finally fall in love with Tracy, and then let’s tell us that she DIED. So Ted spent most of his life looking for the one, and gets like what, 10 years with her??

And his kids seem way too anxious for him to go find Aunt Robin. And six years later? If you’re going to take us in that direction, I don’t think Ted would have waited THAT long. And if we had to go down that road, couldn’t we have at least seen him talk to her, and see the moment. See the two of them become something, see a little of their future?

And are we just to assume that Robin never got married? Robin was just still beautiful and perfect and single and waiting for Ted all this time? I wasn’t invested in Robin and Ted anymore. I was invested in Tracy. We all were.

Everything felt rushed, everything felt cold, everything felt wrong. I will have nothing but love for this show though, because every single episode and season leading up to this, was fantastic.

Here’s the ending – my way:

Tracy and Ted meet at the wedding and of course, instantly fall in love. They get engaged and are married within a year. They still have their two kids, but they grow old and gray together with all their best friends around them. Tracy is a music teacher and Ted a very successful architect. The yellow umbrella is hanging on their wall inside a picture frame.

Robin and Barney stay together, adopt a few children, and start a business together “Bro” cast news. Robin as the anchor, Barney as – well whatever Barney does. His signature sign off – Stinson out.

Marshmallow and Lily-pad go to Rome, but come home to New York. They still live in the apartment, and have a rooftop deck party every year that’s LEGEN – wait for it – DARY. Marshall is a judge, and Lily illustrates children’s books. They still have the gang over every year for Thanksgiving, and you know another slap bet will be brewing soon.

The last scene is far into the future, the gang is at MacLaren’s having a beer. When Marshall turns to the young kids (a scene they totally could have done more with) he says, “You know what happened in this bar? Looks back at the gang, nods, looks back and says…Everything.”

THE END.

Whether it’s a show or not, we felt like we were best friends with Marshall, Lily, Ted, Robin, and Barney. I will miss them. I’m sure we all will. So in honor of them right now, and a kick-ass nine years – “self-five!”

I want to know what you thought of the show, please comment!!!