My Regards to the Bravermans.

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Oh Parenthood. How am I supposed to live without the Bravermans? What have I to look forward to on Thursday nights? They’ve left a void that cannot easily be filled. They now share a place in my heart with Friday Night Lights and that is an accomplishment indeed. I never thought any show could bring out as much emotion as FNL, but the Bravermans held their own. If you’ve never watched this show, go rent the series. Like today. You won’t be disappointed.

I felt like they had become part of my family or maybe I thought I was part of theirs. Who wouldn’t want to be a Braverman? They were the family you wished you had. They remind you of everything that’s good about family. They had their fair share of ups and downs, but one thing always remained the same, their love and support for one another. I rooted for the Bravermans. They had times of intense pain in their relationships which made the times of joy so much sweeter. I feel like this is true for everyone. Pain always makes the joy sweeter.

The characters of this show were so amazing and honest and, well, brave. They drew you in and made you love them. They were flawed but so very real. There was such a wide range of personalities it made it easy to identify with at least one of the characters. My favorite will always be Zeke. Wonderfully ornery Zeke. Craig T. Nelson’s best role since Coach by far. So much of him reminds me of my grandfathers. I think I’ll miss him the most. One of my favorite lines from the show was something Zeke said to his wife, Camille. I think they were having marital problems at the time. He said, “I see you and I hear you.” This is my favorite because it’s so honest and intentional on Zeke’s part. I love that in that moment he was loving his wife the way she needed to be loved. She needed to be seen and heard by her husband. And he was trying. I love this.

Thank you, Parenthood, for all the times you made me feel normal. You made me care about your stories because some of them mirrored my own. More than that, many of the story lines gave me empathy for things I haven’t yet experienced in my life-- cancer, teenagers, Asperger’s, loss of a job. Thank you, Bravermans, for filling my Thursday nights with crying, laughing, and sometimes frustration (Joel and Julia!). You will surely be missed.

-Courtney

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