Nashville season 3 will come to an end this Wednesday May 13, 10/9c on ABC and we at Nashville Forever choose to mark the occasion by being a little nostalgic and celebrating the (great!) season that was.

Therefore, as we try to emotionally prepared for the finale and the LONG summer hiatus, we’re posting during this week here as well as on our Facebook and Twitter some of your picks for Nashville season 3 favorite moments (for details click HERE). We also asked some of our favorite contributors to this site during the passing year to choose their favorite moments, the ones that made them look at the screen and say, “This is why I love this show. This is why Nashville gets me”. 

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There were lots of Rayna and Deacon moments that fans mentioned as one of their Nashville season 3 favorite moments‘. Many of these moments were very dramatic, but not all. Some were joyful and very sweet since for the first time in a VERY long time, Rayna and Deacon shared some well deserved happy moments together. Amy chose one of them.

Related: More Nashville Season 3 Favorite Moments 

One of my favorite moments this season was the moment at the end of episode 3X16 ‘I Can’t Keep Away From You’ (Written by Taylor Hamra) when Deacon and Rayna walk into her house and take each other’s hands, and the girls are there waiting for them. It was such a sweet moment, a homecoming that has been a long time in the making.

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One thing that struck me about this scene as it has in others, is that it continuously amazes me how the two of them always
 seem to say so much in just a few words. When Rayna asked Deacon “You ready for this?” it was like she wasn’t just asking him if he was ready to tell the girls they were together, it went much deeper than that. She was asking him if he was ready for all of it; everything that comes with being a family, all good, the bad, and the “mundane” that will come with them spending the rest of their lives together. “Yeah,” he says, “I am.”

Those smiles and just a few words mean everything. She’s ready, and he’s ready…and so are we! I’m sure I wasn’t the only one jumping off my couch cheering “they’re together! Like “together-together!” It was just exactly what we’ve all been waiting for, the perfect moment, at the right time.

Related: Favorite Season 3A Moments – ‘You Gave Them Us’ (Amy)
Related: Favorite Season 3A Moments – ‘I Love You Dad’ (Amy)

The expression on Maddie’s face was priceless, and watching the four of them fall so easily into that hug gave us a glimpse into the future they will have as a family. It might not be all sunshine and roses, but we know it’s there.

Through most of season 3 we have watched Rayna and Deacon struggle through the mess of finding their way back to each other, and the girls have gotten stuck right in the middle of it. At times it seemed so hopeless, but like Maddie, we as the viewers never stopped desperately believing that somehow it would all work out.

This little moment of the four of them together was so satisfying, it definitely reminded me why I love this show and these characters so much. This is why I’ve kept watching Nashville for three seasons, why I didn’t give up on it even though it was tempting at times. (Let’s be honest, if you are a Deyna fan, Season 3A was just plain painful. I see better now that it was necessary, as it gave Rayna and Deacon both the time they needed to heal, but it was still painful.) This is exactly why this is “my show”.

They make us root for a happy ending, and they keep us believing even through the worst moments. And as Maddie says in the episode…finally! I believe home isn’t a place, but the people you surround yourself with, and we can say without a doubt that this family is finally home.