I will never forget the look on my friend Amanda’s face when I asked her “So, has Burke left Christina at the alter yet?” She had only watched the episode before the finale, and I was the jerk who just dropped the biggest Mc-bomb ever. Amanda has been “my person” almost as long as “Grey’s Anatomy” has been on the air, and just like the show, I don’t think our friendship will be ending any time too soon.

Each season, the plots get cheesier and more unrealistic than ever, but for every stitch and heartbreak, there’s a love that cannot be broken. No, I’m talking not about the love between Meredith and Derrick. I’m referring to my ongoing affair with show creator, Shonda Rhimes. She has taken me on an emotional roller coaster ride through Shondaland for the past nine years. Creating hit shows such as “Private Practice” and “Scandal,” Rhimes has given actors a platform for diversity.

“Grey’s Anatomy” hit the ground running in its first two seasons and has since received more than 25 primetime Emmy nominations. Isaiah Washington was the first to depart the hit show due to his crude homophobic remarks, and since then, Rhimes has been letting go of crucial characters via the grim reaper. There is still not a year that goes by that I don’t shed a small tear every time I watch the episode where Denny dies. And by small tear, I mean sobbing heavily until I’ve ugly-cried my heart out and left a river of mascara on my pillowcase.

Later came Lexie “Little Grey” Grey and Mark “McSteamy” Sloan’s untimely deaths, both of which sent me Mc-reeling for the next couple of days. People die all the time on TV, but “Grey’s Anatomy” fans have grown up with these characters. There is an attachment there that makes you feel as though you’ve just lost a friend.

The show may be shown in syndication on the “Lifetime” network, a.k.a. television for women PMSing or going through a divorce, but there are quite a few men tuning in. Now, don’t try and get out of this, guys, and say you were only watching because your mom had control of the remote. I know deep down you’re captivated by all the drama that goes down at Seattle Grace Mercy West.

My sister once told me she and her friends used to play a drinking game while watching “Grey’s Anatomy” that involved taking a shot any time something dramatic happened. Needless to say they were pretty inebriated after each show, since something dramatic happens in almost every scene. That’s what makes the show so much fun to watch, though. It’s the only soap opera left masquerading as a television drama series.

Sandra Oh will be leaving after season 10 with Isaiah Washington set to return to give Sandra’s character, Christina Yang, some closure. This time when Burke returns, I will be sure not to spoil anything for Amanda. After all, just like Christina and Meredith, she’s my person.