The end of my longest, most emotional relationship

Today is a bittersweet day.. 

Today I end a long term emotional rollercoaster-y relationship that has brought me so many highs and lows throughout the years. I still remember the first day, back in 2007... I was at Vons with my mom, she pointed me over to a bin of $1 books and the most gorgeous hardcover I'd ever seen... Faith of the Fallen. I opened the book jacket and read the first line "She didn't remember dying." I was hooked! I took it home only to discover that there were characters who felt as if I should have known and loved and I did love them even despite not knowing them, so when I soon realized this was the 6th of 12 books (well 11, but I did also buy the prequel: Dept of Bones)... It didn't matter. The little I glimpsed of this magical world was enough for me to go out and buy all 12 books in one go.

i can't believe it's been 8 years since I started the Sword of Truth series... I read 1-2 (1-Wizard's First Rule ... 2-Stone of Tears) and half of book 3 (Blood of the fold... grrrrrr!!!!) in the first year (2007). then I got angry. finished book 3 in china (summer 2009), thought I had brought book 4 (Temple of the Winds) with me but actually brought book 5 (Soul of the Fire) so I lost track of the series for like 2 years after that... I got side-tracked with other things and didn't start on book 4 until 2011... and then got angry again and took off a year. In 2012 I read the rest of 4 through 7, half of 8 + the prequel (6- Faith of the Fallen... Finally!!! was by far my most hated and most loved book of the series! especially the ending!... 7- The Pillars of Creation..... 8- Naked Empire)... and then got angry again, didn't pick it up again until mid-2013. read the rest of 8 through 10 and half of 11 (9-Chainfire... 10- Phantom.... 11- Confessor), started feeling sad about it ending... read half of book 11 up to late December 2013 then got too sad to continue so I stopped until early this year where I was reading maybe a half a chapter every other month... and then this week I started reading it again.

Tonight I finished. I loved these characters SO much!... I'm so sad to see them go I know that the Omen Machine is still out there and that I could go back to them, but honestly I haven't heard good things, and right now it's a bittersweet day because I've finished). I feel a great sense of accomplishment, but at the same time I am utterly heartbroken. I've never loved a series as much as I love this one and I've never loved a character as much as I love Richard. I will miss them all so much. "Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours."