ER Saga ending...

I have watched ER since the beginning. I started watching it with my mom on Thursday nights. I remember thinking this is was emergency rooms is like, having never been in one and being only 14 at the time I thought why wouldn't this be realistic. I loved the characters both doctors and the patients, some of them are more memorable then others but...like any show.

I cried when Mark Greene died, when Carol meets up with Doug in Seattle with the twins, when Carter was attacked...there are so many moments. I know some fans stopped watching when the originals left, but I was hooked on the show and now 15 years later I am still an avid watcher. I will try to avoid going anywhere or plan it early enough that I can be home to watch ER. Side Note: A friend of mine in High School used to call me every night to chat and I would hang up on him, until he caught on, at 9pm on the dot when the opening scenes started. I needed uninterupted attention to Chicago's County General Hospital ER (I tried a couple of times to stay on and talk while watching but it just didn't work). He learned and just called earlier;). If I couldn't get out of not being there I recorded it faithfully. I remember coming home and getting excited at the prospect of watching to see what happened at County.

As I mentioned there are so many of my favorite scenes and storylines that it's hard to come up with one, so I will try for Top 5.

#1- Hands down favorite episode as well as the saddest is the episode when Dr Mark Greene dies. He was the heart of the ER, he got it done with compassion though some may not say that all the time. He worked with a brain tumor! He was so dedicated that he lost his first wife to his work, it took the brain tumor to see that life was too short. I loved that he was in his favorite place as a kid, he tried to teach Rachel how to surf and how to drive before he passed. He was with his favorite girls, Ella, Elizabeth, and Rachel. I still get teary eyed when I hear that song, that version at least, of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Then to close the scene with all the County staff reading the letter that Elizabeth wrote letting them know he had passed. Dr Carter tried to carry on like Dr Greene would have, but in his own way. And so the torch was passed.

#2- Abby and Luka's wedding, a great episode. Another tear jerker for me, so much emotion, it was great to see Abby being as girly as she can get. I do remember thinking it pretty funny that Luka was more emotional then Abby was. Unfortunate ending but turned into a great line for Neela.

#3- Carol finds Doug in Seattle. I think that's all I need to say about that one, the realization that she can't do it with anyone else but him.

#4-Pratt dies...I was bawling again. He finally get around to being the man he has wanted to be and take that final step of commitment with Bettina, and he was becoming chief of staff for the ER, a role that his mentors probably would have never guessed would have guessed him to be able to commit to such an undertaking but he grew into the part totally. He stepped up as he had to do throughout, it just took a bit to humble him to make him better for the part.

#5-Kem and Carter lose the baby. All the episodes that deal with this, the actual labor, the seeing him and saying good bye in the NICU and finally saying their goodbyes as they scatter his ashes. It also showed the emotions they had for each other and even though they deeply cared for each other they knew that it was going to be a tough road as they both dealt with the death.

Which I guess sums up why I loved ER so much, they had a way of bringing everyday topics into everyones eyes, whether it affected them directly or not, it got you thinking about what everyday people go through. It was always a provocative show which tugged at every viewer and fans heartstrings and therefore bringing them back to watch every week. It seems silly but I felt like I knew the characters personally, I knew what they felt in their worst moments in their finest moments, the whole spectrum. That is what I will miss about ER.