Who Doesn't Watch This Is Us? And Why You’re Doing Yourself A Disservice

One of the things I love to do when I'm not traveling (even though I'm technically on a plane right now) is to watch movies or really good television (okay sometimes I also watch really ratchet television, but that's another post) and right now nothing has my interest like NBC's "This is Us".

***SPOILER ALERT*** DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE 2/21/17 EPISODE OF THIS IS US. 

Okay, now that that's out of the way, can I just tell you this has to be the most gut wrenching show on TV? Like every episode has me in the shower crying with my clothes on cause it's just that good. The writing is excellent, but what I think they've done that I haven't seen on primetime television possibly ever is create a show where every person can genuinely see bits of themselves. There's not one stereotypical character on this show and I am absolutely here for every minute of it. 
What really struck me this week, even more so than all of the other episodes that have equally given me #lifegoals, is the whole concept of really making peace with your death. 

If you're not familiar with the show and have clearly ignored my previous warning, I'll quickly bring you up to speed by telling you in this week's episode Randall (played by Sterling K. Brown who is swiftly becoming one of my favorite actors) is taking his terminally cancer ridden dying father, William (played by Ron Cephas Jones), on a last hurrah road trip. Randall was given up for adoption by his father at birth (Dad was a heroin addict before it became "a disease" and people actually tried to help your addiction) and adopted by an absolutely amazing family that had triplets and one died and they brought him home to round out the "Big Three" (seriously these people are saints if I were ever to have triplets and actually get over the shock that I was in fact having triplets and one died I would totally look at that as divine intervention). Randall found his father while he had already been told he had months left to live and worked to make the most of the time he had left.

Okay, now that you're caught up, the idea of having the time to make peace is so intriguing to me. I've often pondered the question is it better to die quickly or to suffer through a long illness? My father died in a car accident and my grandfather died after suffering for years from stroke complications so I'm unfortunately familiar with experiencing both. 
There are obvious pros and cons to each scenario, but I think this week's episode tipped me over to the long illness side. While witnessing a loved one suffering is never easy or fun, the fact that a person gets a chance to attempt to make peace, whether it be writing wrongs or crossing items off of a bucket list has to be fulfilling. To have even a chance of having the moment to be able to say goodbye would have to ease even the worst suffering.

Everyone says live every day like it's your last, but let's get real that's not practical or feasible. Unless you were born in a world free of responsibilities chances are there are going to be some monotonous days in there. The best I think we can hope for is to take the time to "roll our windows down, crank up the music and loosen up."

So as to not end this on a totally morose note, I would just like to say that Sterling K. Brown has quite possibly overtaken Denzel Washington in my book as the best single teardrop crier in all of Hollywood. Man! I can't even imagine how many girls he cried the panties off of in his lifetime. It's just so smooth, he makes me want things to go wrong for him just so I can see that one tear roll.

Alright I'm wrapping it up, off to take on the world!