The fact that I am a few years older than NCIS' run on TV is testament to just how damn long the show has been on our screens.
My earliest memories of the show are foggy snippets of Gibbs, DiNozzo and Kate doing their thing in the big orange room. Perhaps the most memorable are the comments that usually accompanied the show as the beloved steely eyed silver fox commanded our attention on screen, "That Gibbs surely is handsome." My mother would comment.
I would rediscover the alluring pull of those dazzling blue eyes several years later at the age of 16. My sudden attraction to a man who could be my grandfather would lead me down a rather hilarious path of self discovery. Did I have daddy issues? Were those blue eyes really that beautiful that age wasn't relevant?
The show now in its 11th year, would provide an escape from my 16 year-old life. A time during which I was forced to make all sorts of grownup decision regarding my future, leading to various uncertainties of who I was as a person. Yet, those blue eyes were always there to distract me for 42 minutes. I had 11 seasons to catch up on and so the addiction started. It was my dirty little secret, while friends chatted about the latest shows and trends, I clung to my geriatric love.
Today, I am far from the nervous, self loathing teenager I used to be. Well, I'm not a teenager anymore but the nervousness drops by for a visit occasionally. Through it all, NCIS was my constant, my crutch when life was falling apart.
In a span of 7 years the show had taken me on quite the rollercoaster ride. I've mourned the loss of beloved characters. Fallen in love with ships that would reawaken my love of writing and ultimately remind me of who and what I wanted to be. I've said goodbye to the same beloved ships as they were gunned down in a diner. Sometimes they were left behind in Afghanistan.
In its 19th season, I have to face the hardest goodbye of them all. A farewell to those constant steely blues that can make me swoon. It's admirable that Mark Harmon stuck with NCIS for so long. There's no denying that I mainly watched the show because of him, don't get me wrong I loved the other characters, but we all have our favourites.
So after 18 seasons and 4 episodes, 7 years of my life, I too hang up my NCIS hat. It doesn't mean I won't continue to preserve my love of Gibbs through my fanfiction. But in terms of tuning in every Tuesday, and as of late Monday, it's a tradition to which I say "So long".
But you're not a real fan! I hear you shout, perhaps I'm not after all. Yet, I'd rather say goodbye to the show while I still carry a fondness for it in my heart. I would hate for beloved memories to become tainted with resentment.
I look forward to revisiting my love of NCIS and Gibbs in my writing. My drafts are simply waiting for my life to settle down first. Those steely blues might be gone, but they will never be forgotten.
But most of all I will forever cherish the friendship I have forged with @from-stone-to-hallows . Although the LJ Gibbs era might be over, ours is just beginning.