Every week, I make a point of watching The West Wing. It seems that this causes each Sunday night to end on a sorrowful note. As the end draws nearer, I am sad that there are only a precious few episodes left. As the plot lines wind down, everything becomes neatly wrapped; characters prepare to “ride off into the sunset.” Their pretend futures are spoken of in small conversations.
A few of these characters will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.
Perhaps I am odd, but sometimes, characters from movies, television, and books stay with me. I always wonder, “What ever happened to them?” Maybe I am the only one who does that. Maybe not. Perhaps it is because they made me laugh, or cry, or think, or even possibly because I could not stand them. Whatever the reason, they remain in my head and somewhere down the road, something will remind me of them.
I envy the ability to create such characters. Maybe one day I too will finally pick up a pen and spill all of the characters I have thought up on to the page. Undoubtedly, my characters will have the remnants of some of my favorites, even maybe from The West Wing.
If you watched tonight, what an amazing reminder of the bittersweetness that life contains. Yes, I know it is just a TV show, but I love when media makes me think. A song, A movie, An invented character, though imagined, created, and brought to life, they often have a way of expressing reality better then we ourselves can even attempt.
Life & Love & Why 
You got a way with words, Debra Bauslaugh. I won’t be surprised when someday you “pick up a pen and spill” I think memorable characters stay with us so long because we become emotionally connected to them. And emotion is our deepest and strongest memory.