With the end of my most beloved television series this past March, along with the impending death of its spinoff, "The Originals," there is no way I could ever get over this loss. The story of two feuding vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon, trapped in adolescent bodies, longing for the affection of captivating 17-year-old Elena is one that has been held deep in the hearts of its fans for eight years. So here’s to the show that seems to kill off everyone, just to bring half of them back… twice.

Katherine Pierce/Katerina Petrova

The myth, the legend. Katherine Pierce wasn’t born evil. Her life made her that way. She had her child ripped out of her arms, and burdened with having to outrun an immortal hybrid for 500 years. She is a survivor. She lies, she cheats, she manipulates. She does whatever possible to live to see another day. She had this look in her eyes that made you wonder just how many people she’s killed. And this grin that made you realize she’s probably lost count. I think there was a sort of beauty to her death.

She ran from her enemies for 500 years, and then one day, she stopped. Then came a new enemy, one that she could never escape, time. “So call it pride or vanity, but after the life that I’ve led, I refuse to drift off into the sunset. This truly has been the role of a lifetime.” Death by old age was such a way to go for Katherine, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way. Katherine was the enemy of "The Vampire Diaries." She was smart and conniving. “Do you honestly believe that I don’t have a plan B? And if that fails, a plan C and a plan D... you know how the alphabet works, don’t you?”

Katherine Pierce always knew to stay one step ahead of your enemy. So here’s to Katherine Pierce, the only one that can get dragged down to hell kicking and screaming, only to come back as the queen of it.

Damon Salvatore

Once a simple man, Damon was without-a-doubt changed as vampirism became him. Burdened by an abusive father and an ill mother, Damon had no choice but to leave to the confederate army. As surprising as it was, Damon didn’t intend to complete his transition. Stefan forced him to join in this immortal life. Without vampirism, Damon lacked purpose and direction. It’s often argued that he was a cold, terrible person. Which, given the sheer amount of blood he’s spilled, is partly true, but that wasn’t who he was at his core. He was able to find love.

Damon always said that when people see good, they expect good. But he didn’t want to have to live up to anyone’s expectations. Damon was always seeking to prove that everyone was right. That he couldn’t be saved. That everyone was right to think of him as that terrible person with no regard for anyone. But that wasn’t true while he was with Elena. There was a sort of beautiful symmetry in the love triangle of Stefan, Damon, and Elena. Damon and Elena’s love wasn’t pure like Stefan’s, not to say that it wasn’t real because it was, but that it wasn’t just Elena making Damon a better person. She did, but he changes her too. Damon challenges her, surprises her. He gave her passion, adventure, and even a little danger. He makes her question her life, her beliefs, Stefan is different.

Stefan Salvatore

“For over a century, I have lived in secret… until now. I know the risk, but I had no choice. I have to know her.” Those iconic words have stuck throughout the years. A vampire, lost. Saving the life of this young girl was just the start to redefine himself. Stefan was fundamentally a good person. He knew how to love. He was the hero. He couldn’t always come through for himself, but he could always come through for everyone else. Despite his best efforts, he was a horrible vampire. Vampirism ruined him, bringing out his ripper side. But because he was a good person at his core, he knew he had to be good at controlling his demons. He had to because he was so much worse when he didn’t.

Stefan loved Elena with every pulsing vein in his body. He would’ve done anything for her and when she couldn’t love him anymore, he was lost. As much as seeing his epic love with his own brother hurt him, he was, again, a fundamentally good person capable of putting others’ wishes before his own. In the end, Stefan and Caroline fell in love. My favorite thing about it all is that in the pilot, like, “You and I… not gonna happen.” And so, she wasn’t the first girl to catch his eye by any means. I kind of love that all these years later, he has eyes only for her. I do think that Stefan and Caroline are a pretty polar opposite, but they complement one another. Because she’s so chipper and optimistic and he is much more doom and gloom, and I think that somehow, they complement one another by that.

Lexi Branson

We couldn't forget about Stefan's best friend. Here’s to possibly the most underrated character in all eight seasons, even if she died in the first. There’s no question she’s wise, considering her 300+ age. When we first met Lexi in 01x09 “162 Candles,” she immediately saw through Stefan and his genuine love for Elena. There’s no wonder since she’s devoted so much effort to keeping Stefan grounded. Lexi taught Stefan sublimation and kept him from the darkest parts of himself. When Stefan fell off the rails and was compelled to turn off his humanity, Lexi dedicated whatever little time that the door to The Other Side was open to bringing him back to himself. Lexi has been by far one of the warmest, selfless characters this series has ever had.

When The Other Side was imploding on itself in the season 5 finale, she chose not to pass through Bonnie for the sake of Stefan. “What kind of a best friend would I be if you died before Stefan got his brother back?” was Lexi’s final words before she “found peace.” So, goodbye, Lexi. Thank you for teaching us that, “contrary to popular belief, there are actually multiple ones, especially for a vampire. The only way to find another is to let go, move on.” We can only hope to be half the person you were.

Bonnie Bennett

Bonnie never wanted anything to do with the supernatural world, but she got sucked into it. She hated Stefan when she first met him. But, she eventually realized she loved her friends more than she hated the vampirism that became them. Cheers to Bonnie for always saving the day and always staying strong. She was literally sent to another world while saving her friends. She’s died and come back to life again just to be there for everyone else. It’s comforting to know that in the end, Bonnie found true love.

With both Bonnie and Enzo and what they’ve been through, there was just this natural need to fulfill that. And it does make sense, as you get to know Enzo, why they really gravitated towards each other and why they needed each other. Enzo was definitely in a place where he could die happy thanks to Bonnie. He fell completely in love and it’s all he ever wanted. He didn’t even realize he wanted it until he met her, which is the beauty of it. To Bonnie Bennett, the witchy best friend.

Jenna Sommers

Jenna’s death has gone down as the most heart wrenching of all eight seasons. We couldn’t help but flood our eyes with tears watching her being stabbed in the heart, quite literally, we just felt so much for her. A young girl, still in college, forced to raise two teenagers not much younger than her following their parents’ death. She put her entire life on hold to help Elena and Jeremy. Amidst all the raging chaos breezing through Mystic Falls, Elena did everything she could to ensure that Jenna was safe and that she wouldn’t be affected.

Despite her best efforts, Jenna was swept up into the mess like everyone else. She didn’t ask for any of this, then again, none of them did, but Jenna was good. She deserved better. Farewell, Jenna. We find peace knowing that you never knew the torture of The Other Side, according to Esther, we will forever love you.

Matt Donovan

Oh, dear Matt. I’d like to offer congratulations for never being turned into a vampire. Even if you didn’t escape the forty-something times you died and came back to life with that damn Gilbert ring. Matt truly was a backbone to the show, a constant among an array of varying supernatural beings. Matt was Elena’s first love and a big part of her life at that. To Elena, Matt was that friend since childhood that you start dating because you owe it to yourselves to see if you could be more. And then her parents died and everything changed.

Matt was broken when Elena broke up with him, he thought it was something he did. But sometimes, people fall out of love. So, here’s to Matt Donovan, who has eluded fates worse than death ten times over. A pure and gentle soul.

Elena Gilbert

Elena Gilbert, the epitome of a fulfilled life. “Last spring my parents’ car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And I was in the backseat. And I survived. But they didn’t. So, that’s my story.” When we first met Elena, she was like this walking dead person. She felt so empty inside like she could never be happy again. And then she bumped into Stefan that day in the hallway. She never thought she would ever be happy again, and then she met him. He changed everything for her. I mean, he quite literally saved her life.

All Elena ever wanted was for everyone she loved to be happy. Each of these characters has touched her life in so many different ways. It’s often forgotten that the night her parents died, she blew off family night so that she could go to some party. She ended up getting stranded, and they had to come pick her up. That’s why they ended up in the car at Wickery Bridge and that’s why they died. Through this, Elena taught me that our actions are what set things in motion. But we have to live with that. There are a million ways that Elena has left her mark on people’s lives, but the ultimate lesson learned has been at the root of this show since the start. “Dear Diary, today will be different. Today, I will smile. It will be genuine. Because today is the day that I get to live again.”

Sheriff Forbes

Talk about fictional deaths I'll never get over. The Sheriff has endured such heartache. Her husband left her and eventually died, she had to go through a major cultural shift to learn to love her vampire daughter, coupled with the burden of having entire townspeople to protect. There’s no doubt that Sheriff Forbes has earned her stripes and has been that natural hero every story needs. There was just something so pure about her victories and way about life. No matter how supernatural a threat became, she always had a part in saving the day.

Amidst all the extraordinary deaths throughout the series, there was something so real and true about Sheriff Forbes’ death by cancer, which no, vampire blood can’t fix. So, thank you, Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes. Thank you for teaching us to be kind, to fight for what you believe in, and to be understanding. As she spoke her last few words, Liz made it surreal, “I have to admit, there is a certain amount of peace knowing I'll be one of the only people in Mystic Falls to die an ordinary death. I’m exceptionally ordinary. I’m okay with that. Caroline is anything but. She was meant to be extraordinary.”

Caroline Forbes

There is something about Caroline Forbes. She’s just got so much life in her because she was sort of captured in that moment of time as that teenage girl. She just brings the spirits up of the people around her. “Whenever anyone tells me I can’t do something, I prove them wrong.” This quote by Caroline stuck. She is the most resilient, bold, and overconfident character of any of these past eight years. When she started to fall for Klaus, she pushed it to the back of her head because she knew that she could never love someone in spite of all the terrible things they’ve done.

Despite Klaus’ best efforts to win her over, Caroline denied all feelings she had for him. “It’s not a crime to love what you cannot explain.” as Klaus once said. Caroline proved to be extraordinary. She was a beautiful, strong woman. A generous friend, and a bright light in a sea of dark. I could go on and on about how much Caroline impacted my life and all the beautiful traits that make her who she is, but I will leave it with this. When she first became a vampire, it was said that “Caroline, of all people, will not make it as a vampire.” However, Elena, Damon, and Stefan were all cured except Caroline. The last vampire standing.

The one real and true takeaway from this show is that forever doesn’t always last forever. Bringing in vampires to a television series isn’t the easiest task, and with vampires comes immortality which really gives you perspective. Throughout the series, Stefan has proven a new perspective on the conundrum of immortality. After living more than one lifetime, you need to disappear every decade or so and start over. But the paradox is that, even though you have to keep hitting the reset button, you can’t leave the past behind. There’s always an end. And I do believe this holds true in the love story of Damon and Elena. Though both made immortal, their forever suddenly got that much shorter as they both were cured.

In the final scene of "The Vampire Diaries," Elena shows us a glimpse into after her and Damon’s future, “Even after our long and happy life together, Damon is still worried he’ll never see Stefan again, that he’ll never find peace. But I know he’s wrong because peace exists, it lives in everything we hold dear. That is the promise of peace, that one day, after a long life, we find each other again.”

And with that, it’s proven that life isn’t about your final moments. It’s about the moments that led up to them. It’s been a long eight years, filled with passion, adventure, and even a little danger. Goodbye to the series that has shaped me into the person I am today.