Hello, old friend

Dear Shonda Rimes,

I am writing to thank you eversomuch for taking your head out of your ass and finally writing an episode of your show that's worth waiting for. I heard it was coming. I read and read all about how Shonda and her staff were coming up with the greatest finale to end a rocky season, and I have to hand it to you - you did it right tonight.

Before Grey's Anatomy became the in-thing, the popular show, the watercooler fodder it's become, I was a fan. I was a fan of the characters you created and of the story you told. It's a story that needs telling, and whether it occurs in a hospital, on a battlefield or in my kitchen, it's an important one. You have created characters that remind us a little bit of ourselves, who we want to be, and who we wish we weren't.

The way that your show is written is important to me, not just because I have a deep appreciation for its wit, but because you push boundaries. You draw lines in the sand and then march right past them. Writers everywhere, in entertainment and beyond, would do well to learn a lesson from you, for you used your time wisely during the writers' strike- you recognized where your story had gone astray, and you found ways to bring it back to the life it deserves.

Most everyone I know rolls their eyes at me when they discover how seriously I take the shows I enjoy. But not everyone understands that the reason I love the shows I do is not because I'm a TV addict with no life (shut up, family); the reason I love them is because they articulate things in our lives that we find mundane, but that need that little extra exploration.

So thanks, Shonda. Thanks for a great finale. Thanks for finally realizing that your viewers aren't stupid, just a little impatient for the quality of writing we remember from long ago. Thanks for teaching those of us that aspire to write how to come full circle and hold yourself accountable.

Good luck with the fall - you'll need it. This is a tough act to follow.