When I started watching "Grey's Anatomy," I thought you were going to be that one character that everyone hates, but Shonda would never kick off. As the episodes got more emotional, the surgeries became more vigorous, and everyone started dying, we continued to see you open up more and more. But even with the few tears we watched you shed, with all of those long hours you put into your surgeries and the clinic, you still became a character that everyone can't help but love. Those squirrely interns at the start of the show are your masterpieces, and you did everything right with them.
You grew on us when we saw just how much Denny Duquette meant to you. When all of those donor hearts failed, or when Izzie cut the LVAD wire, you were right there every time something happened. When he died, that's the first time we saw you open up and shed a tear. Shortly after his death, you worked so hard to bring that clinic to life. Izzie donated all of the money Denny left her to that clinic, and you then spent countless hours in there, never wanting to leave. You care about people, you care about patients. You're a genuine, kindhearted person, even if you can easily scare everyone: everyone from the interns to even Dr. Webber.
The day a bomb was in Seattle Grace was also the day your first husband was in a car accident, on his way to see your son enter the world. You stayed strong, and you grew a strong bond with George that never faltered after that. You set the friendship goals high when you even named your son after George.
When George died, the world watched you fall apart more than anyone. You did everything you could and more to save him, but time ran out for him, and the hospital was never the same after that. You kept your cool, even though the world could see that you wanted to fall apart. You loved George more than anyone, even your own husband it seemed, but you never let it affect your job. You kept the hospital moving as you always do. Though it may not have been healthy for you to bottle everything up, you showed the world just how courageous you were and how you had to continue to stay strong for the hospital.
Your courage shone through the most at the end of season six. You lied to Gary Clark and said you were a nurse, which is the smartest move you've ever made, smarter than any other technique in a surgery you've done. You did all you could to save Percy and you pushed through. It wasn't your fault that he didn't make it, Dr. Bailey, even though it still haunts you, I'm sure. Those elevators were closed down, but you followed the procedure as best as you could in a hospital room where there was only so much you could work with and so few hands (thanks Mary, the patient Miranda was with at the time, for being brave and helping her all along the way). You took time off, but came back as the same woman you were before.
Before you were Dr. Miranda Bailey, Chief of Surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, you were Mandi Bailey, the intern. Mandi: the quiet, glasses-wearing, cornrow-rocking, resourceful, wise Mandi Bailey. We felt bad for you when we saw the flashbacks of you when you were an intern, but we felt even worse when we watched the episode of what would have happened if Meredith had a completely different life than how she is now (Richard and Ellis got married, Ellis was Chief of Surgery, etc.). I won't lie, my heart shattered when you were fired. I couldn't imagine it actually happening. I was happy for that episode to be over so that we could resume the actual lives of everyone at the hospital, especially yours.
You fled your wedding to Dr. Warren to be there for Adele, which is ultimately, another heroic act at it's finest. You did everything you could to save her, you stayed with her until Dr. Webber told you to go. In what you said was "only 20 minutes," you forgot all about the wedding and bustle of it all, but you did with good reason. Webber is still proud of you for doing all that you did for her, and he doesn't blame you for it. Though the viewers don't know what you said or did after you found out Adele had the heart attack, we do know that the heart attack was, in no way, your fault.
These are just some of the reasons why I believe you are TV's most bad ass, balanced, collected, poised women since 2005 and my favorite character on "Grey's." You are down-to-earth, always know what to say, but know when to be pertinent about the matters at hand. Thanks for staying true to yourself since the first episode. You may have had to cope with a lot, but you still came back as the Bailey we all admired. Just like you said, you're "the heart of the hospital," we all can see that.
