I Will Always Love You, Leslie Knope.

It must have been five or six years ago. My fiance, who was (and is still) a big fan of The Office, told me that there is a really funny show that I would like and should watch. Thus, I was introduced to Parks and Recreation, which he, like some, had described as a story about a "female Michael Scott." Well, that was then. Now, at the end of the show's seventh and final season, Leslie Knope is an iconic character who is one of the funniest, most relatable, most admirable, and most feminist women on TV.

I'm going to leave all the talk about the development of the show and Leslie's character to the regular writers of reviews and such. What I really want to write about just a couple of hours before the series finale is, however briefly, what Leslie Knope means to me.

Before I started watching the show, several friends had told me that Leslie Knope kind of reminds them of me. At the time, I had no idea how big of a compliment such expressions were, even though part of it definitely had something to do with my enthusiasm for politics, female political leaders, and (above all) Joe Biden. But I think they really helped warm me up to Leslie from the very beginning.

Leslie is relentless and passionate, but what makes her character so appealing and respectable is not that she uses these qualities to accomplish numerous achievements in the face of (often extreme) adversity. Rather, it is that she uses them to improve the lives of her friends as well. She brings her feminist values to both public life and private life. She celebrates female friendships but also proves that men and women can have a beautiful, lasting, and completely platonic friendships, even when they have polar opposite values.

This tote that I bought online was delivered today.

Of course, Leslie is not the only person on Parks who has a meaningful, platonic friendship with someone of the opposite gender. For example, Ron and April (who started out as Ron's assistant) have a special bond that finally comes into focus when the two of them complete the unintentional and convoluted scavenger hunt for Ron's old key. Tom and Donna have an annual tradition ("Treat Yo' Self") where they go around treating themselves to shopping, spa-ing, good food, and anything else luxurious. In these friendships, there is zero sexual tension and other weirdness that plagues male-female friendships on many other sitcoms.

That is not to say that Parks doesn't celebrate romantic relationships, particularly those that have developed from friendships. Leslie and Ben, who make such a perfect couple, started out as friends. Ann and Chris dated a bit before they became friends, but they were friends for a while before they decided to become a family.

But I digress. (Yes, I am aware that the last two paragraphs were totally disruptive of the flow of this post.)

In the end, I think Leslie is a true role model--especially for young women but for any person--and that Parks is a show that teaches us the value of human relationships. Leslie brings positive energy, caring, and togetherness to every aspect of her life and to those of others. Over the years, she has grown into someone I aspire to become, ridiculous quirks and all. Yes, I am aware that she is a fictional character, but one that has inspired a phenomenon in real life. She feels like a real woman, and as extraordinary as she often appears, her realness makes me (and hopefully other women, young and otherwise) believe that I can be her if I do the work.

Shows come and go, and I watch a ton of them. But Parks will always have a special place in my heart. The show was and always will be a reminder of what's important in life. And Leslie...Leslie will always be an inspiration, and hopefully, some day, I can be someone else's Leslie Knope.