We continue our FOX appreciation days, on the network’s 30th birthday week, with another beloved and long-lasting series, Bones.

It’s the final countdown, but we’re a far cry from playing a classic riff on the guitar. Bones is coming to an end, and no one hates to see it go more than we do.

We’ve had good laughs and good cries with these characters, solved murders, put away bad guys, learned what it means to compromise for the sake of love, and, most importantly, we learned that family is not about blood relations.

To quote Dr. Temperance Brennan, “The more openly a culture embraces death, the less anxiety they associate with it.”

We have come a long way since the start of Bones. We have seen other shows rise and fall. We have seen the end of Glee and felt loss at the death of Cory Monteith. We cried when Daisy lost her Lancelot, knowing she now has to raise their child by herself.

But we have survived all of these things, we will survive this one, and we will survive more.

If there is one thing fandoms do well, it’s survive.

Looking back on our time with Bones, Hodgins, Angela, Booth, and the Squinterns, it’s hard to imagine a television season without them. First Rizzoli and Isles drops off the air, taking away our favorite crime-solving females, and now Booth and Brennan will be leaving us forever. It almost doesn’t seem fair.

But they haven’t had it easy, either. Booth has gone through several rounds of gambling addiction, Hodgins became paralyzed from the waist down, Brennan has had to do some soul-searching before finally making up with her father, and let’s not forget Angela going through her round of depression after Hodgins’ paralysis.

So, whether you’re happy, indifferent, or grabbing the nearest box of cookie dough, the final season is just around the corner.

While they may be leaving us, our love for Bones will never truly die. After all, “in any group, no matter how restrictive, the free thinkers, the mavericks, the rebels with leadership qualities find a way to declare their distinctiveness.”

Go forth, be happy, and remember these years fondly.

The final season of Bones will return for in early 2017.