Maggie, 14 — Portland (Maine, USA):
When I was 9 years old in the summer going into my 4th grade year, my family hosted a Fourth of July party at our camp. Family members visited, relatives came and left. After the party, my neighbor and her family had stayed a little while longer. Her, myself, and my three other sisters were bored and had nothing else to do. We were worn out from all of the swimming and running around we had been doing the entire day. So, in our living room we sat, thinking of what to do. Then, my neighbor made the suggestion that changed everything.
“Have you guys ever heard of Lost?” she asked. My sisters and I shook our heads. “We should really watch it. It’s my favorite show!” So, she turned on our ancient Wii console and turned on the pilot episode.
From the moment Jack’s eye opened, my young mind was already racing with thoughts and questions. “Why is there a man wearing a suit in the middle of the jungle? What is he running from? Does he know where he’s going?” My neighbor shushed me and said that I would find out soon. Then, I saw the plane. All of the screaming people, stumbling across the wreckage of the fuselage. Jack running around the beach to help those in need. The injured people crying for help. I knew I was far too young for such gore, but it was so captivating that I just couldn’t peel my eyes from the screen. My little sister was already out of the room, and my older sister was covering her eyes with her hands. But I just watched, so fascinated, yet so terrified, of what was happening.
As the summer went on, episode after episode was watched by my sisters and I. We came to love the characters. We laughed with them, mourned with them, and grew very close with them. Some of my sisters had eventually fallen away from the show, and by the time I had reached The End, my twin sister and I were the only ones still watching.
In the basement of our lake house, the two of us sat in silence as we watched the church fade to white and Jack’s eye flutter closed, and tears ran down my cheeks as the iconic “LOST” closed what was the best show on television.
Five years later, I still watch Lost. But now, since I am older, I have a much deeper understanding of the beautiful details that made Lost such an incredible show. It seems like the connections I made with these characters become stronger every time I watch it. Lost has so many essential lessons about love, life, destiny, faith, and, most importantly, being able to let go, like all of us viewers had to do with Lost.
There are some fans of Lost that may have just finished the show, and some others who have been watching since September 22nd, 2004, long before I began, but no matter how long we’ve been watching it for, Lost has still made an impact on all of our lives.