Ever since I started watching OTH when I was about 16, it has been my rulebook in life. For example, I won’t settle for any type of love unless it’s just like Lucas and Brooke’s love (when they were at their best). I won’t give up on my dreams until I reach them just like Nathan did. I won’t ever hesitate in fighting for what I’m passionate for just like Haley did. Even more important than being my rulebook of life, OTH’s been my comfort when I’m going through life’s trials and tribulations and gives me hope that everything’s going to be okay. Some nights, the only thing that could help relieve my broken heart was a box of tissues and OTH.  I related to Peyton because in my life “people always leave”, I’m the typical tortured loner chick who’s masked by a permanently plastered smile, makeup, and pretty dresses. I went through much more than any teenager girl had to go through and yet every episode I watched was my escape from reality, my reminder that I couldn’t just “survive” life but I had to live it too. I’ll always love Peyton for teaching me that. Then there’s Brooke. Beautiful Brooke and how much she taught me as well. How it’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes even though most times all you’ll end up with is heartbreak. Like her, I made the evolution of being the sloppy sometimes bitchy girl who wore her heart on her sleeve to being a young mature woman with ambition. That just because my parents didn’t show me the affection I deserved, it was any self reflection of my true worth. That even though my heart was shattered, as hers was by Lucas, love still prevails through it all. I still have hope I’ll find my Julian. Someone who will love and accept me regardless of my insecurities and heavily guarded heart. 

OTH has been over now for a while, and I cope by rewatching the old episodes but my life won’t be the same without it. No show can replace the void it has left but I’m just grateful it ever existed. I’m so grateful to the creator, the actors, the music and the lessons. I wouldn’t have changed a thing, it may be over but it lives forever in my  heart. So thank you<3333333333333333333333333333 

Words cannot express. 

LOVE ALWAYS,

Ally.

It was the end of the year 2006 when I first watched the very first season of One Tree hill. We were settling down in a new home for a while since we left our old one for 33 days because of the war of 2006 that happened in Lebanon and it needed some renovation for the damaged caused by this war. I was in my third year of university and despite of all the struggles we were facing, I remember setting off everything that was going around and everything I was doing every Wednesday evening for watching and enjoying new episodes of OTH.

I got too attached from the very first episode. We didn’t have at that time a DVD player yet so I had to wait for a whole year when we returned to our old home and we bought a new DVD player so I went down to the nearest DVD shop and bought all the seasons that were selling at that time. I remember watching the seasons repeatedly with non stop with my younger brother (who got attached to the series too maybe because he looks like Nathan but mostly because of the story itself).

The story of OTH by itself is so inspiring and so real and this is why it has been the most successful series ever, when no one else believed that it will continue, all the people that were involved in making the story including us, the fans, believed to continue OTH story. And I’m glad that it lasted that long.

From each character I learned something and I got inspired and connected for its realistic world that we can all face in real life. For me, I can say that I’ve seen the love of a mom in Caren, the brotherhood bond in Lucas and Nathan, the true friendship in Haley and Lucas, Brooke and Peyton, the struggle and faith of Peyton, the strength and inspiration in Brooke, the good friendship in Mouth, the father’s love in uncle Keith, even in Dan’s complex and dark character his love and sacrifice for Jamie was amazing in a way that only Dan Scott can do and show it. And of course, the most amazing and inspiring of all were the love stories of all the couples that we learned a lot from, and we all hope to find the true love and the soul mate of our lives like OTH characters did.

For all the people that were involved in OTH story in any w

way, I want you to know what big and amazing influence you have made for millions and millions of people all around the world, for that we are so grateful: Thank you Mark Schwahn, @StevenGoldfried, @RealJoeDavola and all other producers for creating and producing OTH, thank you for bringing all the characters to life. OTH may be ended, but we will always carry the story and the lessons we learned from it in our heart, and within our DVD player for rewinding and re-living all those great moments of One Tree Hill, There is only One Tree Hill and it is inside our heart and soul.

I started watching One Tree Hill when I was 15. My brother owned all the seasons and swore by the show but I’d never given it a shot. It was only once I entered the world of High School that I needed something that understood me more than my classmates. As I watched the characters interact, go through love,loss,victory and defeat I found a part of myself that I’d never been able to share with anyone. I could relate to Lucas and Peyton, to Haley and Nathan and even to Whitey. One Tree Hill was not only a TV show but a way of life for me. It was what I looked to for inspiration and for answers. One Tree Hill made life understandable for me. 

I just finished watching Season 4 for the hundredth time and still the State Championship episode gets to me. The writing of it is so pure, so real that even though I know how it ends I can’t help but smile at every little quirk that episode has. I feel my heartbeat quicken as Lucas takes the winning shot, the one he failed to make the year before. I get butterflies as Lucas looks at Peyton and realizes he’s looking at his future. The goosebumps I feel when he utters the words “It’s you”, there’s nothing better. I have found more references to One Tree Hill in my life than I even thought possible. And I can only hope that my love story ends the same way that Lucas and Peyton’s did. 

Maybe One Tree Hill didn’t inspire me to be a writer, or a basketball player or a fashion designer. But it did inspire me on how to live my life. “It’s okay to let yourself be happy because you never know how fleeting that happiness might be”, “Six billion people in the world, six billion souls. And sometimes, all you need is one”, “the rest of your life is a long time and the rest of your life starts right now”, “And losing your way on a journey is unfortunate, but losing your reason for the journey is a fate more cruel,” but most importantly “Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always.” 

Thank you One Tree Hill for teaching me things I never knew about myself, for telling me how to live my life and that it will all be okay but most importantly for giving me something that no one else can, Always and Forever.

- Kim