Whether you are a devoted fan of How I Met Your Mother or just an occasional viewer, you surely ask one question: who is “the mother?”  For eight seasons, viewers have tuned in to the hilarious and heartfelt half-hour sitcom, with the identity of the mother always held just out of reach.

CBS has ultimately decided to renew How I Met Your Mother for a ninth season, following rumors that the show would end after the eighth.

Dedicated viewers can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing we still have another season to make sense of the crew’s ridiculous stories and come closer to piecing the show’s greatest puzzle together.  “Even though people fear the show will drag on, I am overjoyed knowing it is not yet over,” said junior Kayla Pollock.

Since 2005, the cast of How I Met Your Mother has developed relationships  which fans have watched flourish throughout the years.

Viewers were shocked when, in  the summer of 2012, Jason Segel had supposedly announced that the upcoming season would be his last.  The thought of breaking up the original crew’s chemistry led fans to believe that the show must be nearing its end.  If Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) was finished, surely the same would go for the show.

Predicting this would most likely be the show’s last season, familiar fans expected a “legen—wait for it—dary” ending.  Many anticipated season eight to resolve all loose ends, most importantly Mrs. Ted Mosby’s identity.  Surprisingly, season eight failed to deliver the irreplaceable humor to which viewers are accustomed.

“Although HIMYM is always funny, season eight wasn’t as creative or random as the show normally is. It focused more on the future which was both upsetting and heart warming,” said junior Fiona Bett.

Just as people started to accept the sub-par conclusion of their favorite show, CBS released that season eight would not mark the end How I Met Your Mother.

While it is reassuring for viewers to know that their most dire questions are still open to being answered, many hope season nine will make up for the lack of zest in season eight. Many questions arise over what is in store for the future of How I Met Your Mother.  Will all the characters return? Will the show go on after revealing the mother? Do Ted’s children come back into play? Just like we have for the past eight seasons, dedicated fans must patiently wait and see.