My mother and aunt did not live to see it
My mother, her younger sister (my aunt), and I all bonded over watching Outlander.
I was able to recently watch the finale, but sadly they both passed away before the end.
We would watch it together if we were in the same place or FaceTime or call each other and talk about the episodes if we were apart.
The show’s mix of adventure, romance, historical realism, arts, and culture gave us all something to enjoy.
They were very few contemporary programs that my aunt and mother watched besides Outlander.
They preferred in general to watch old Hollywood movies along with the occasional semi-new release that had been made available on streaming.
They loved the character Claire, for how well she was portrayed by Caitriona Balfe, for her strong independent spirit, and for her pursuit of education and self betterment.
They had both started out life as artists with one as a writer and the other as a visual artist but for practical reasons, one became a doctor and later a stay at home mother and the other became a college administrator and later an administrator for large drug trials, although they both continued on with their arts as well.
They also loved the character of Jamie for all his manly virtues, because of how well he was portrayed by Sam Heughan, and because he looked really good with his shirt off.
They would spend hours discussing what had happened in the series and if they agreed with various characters decisions or not, and what they thought might happen in the future.
They would occasionally call out encouragements or insults to various characters as they watched their adventures on the screen.
My favorite thing to do was to look up parts of history that had been presented during the show and discuss it with them.
During their lives, they both made a single trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland which they cherished. I still have the shillelagh that my mother brought back for me from Ireland.
My aunt passed away from complications of COVID after a long and difficult hospitalization in 2022.
Because of the COVID restrictions only her husband was actually allowed to see her in person before she passed, her four children and the rest of her family relegated to only see her through video calls.
My mother was devastated when my aunt passed away.
Their relationship wasn’t perfect. They argued with each other and criticized each other and made fun of each other as siblings do.
But they also supported each other and celebrated with each other and shared so much of their lives with each other and their bond was very strong.
My mother was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2019 and fought it for years before passing away in the spring of 2024.
My mother and I lived together for the last couple of years of her life so that I could help her.
She had a stroke toward the end of 2023 after which her health quickly declined.
Those last several months of her life were very hard for both of us.
The last several months of a battle with cancer is exhausting as is caring for someone 24 hours a day seven days a week who is going through the last several months of their battle with cancer.
Often when she was stuck in bed, she would ask me to find something for her to watch on TV.
And eight times out of 10 after she had disapproved of practically every show that was currently airing or streaming I would wind up putting on old episodes of Outlander for her to rewatch.
Besides the occasional old Hollywood classic it was the only thing I could find to put on the screen that would give her succor.
After my aunt had passed away when my mother and I were watching new episodes of Outlander together, we would both despair that she was not there with us to see them.
“Your aunt would’ve said this…”, “Your aunt would’ve thought that…”, were common refrains heard from my mother while we watched the show.
My mother was determined to beat the cancer and fought as hard as she could. One of the things she would occasionally say was “This cancer isn’t gonna keep me from seeing the ending of Outlander”.
She may have actually fought a little too long and too hard towards the end but that’s just who she was.
After my mother passed, I couldn’t bring myself to watch Outlander anymore.
My gut would start to seize up, and I could feel the tears starting to form in the corners of my eyes, and I would turn it off.
Around a year after my mother’s passing and after I made some degree of peace with her death, I started watching the series again catching up with the 2nd and 3rd parts of season seven.
And now this spring, I have watched the final season alone, without either of them.
The ending to their favorite series that they both originally never imagined they wouldn’t live to see.
Watching it for me was of course bittersweet.
It was an ending about death and loss, and what transcends it.
It was a very fine ending that they would have loved, would have discussed, would have argued about, would have celebrated.
My comfort now lies in imagining them together on the other side, in heaven, reunited.
May we all be reunited with those we love, may death not have the final word.
On behalf of my mother, my aunt, and me I wish to sincerely thank Diane Gabaldin for her wonderful stories and to thank the production staff and the cast and crew of the Outlander series for so beautifully bringing those stories to life on the screen.
Le deagh dhùrachd