Where you lead, I’ll follow…
20 years living by Gilmore Girls
Okay, okay I’ll hold my hands up now…
I was 2 years old in 2000. I am too young to remember this wonderful show airing for the first time but that does not mean that it means any less to me. In fact, it means more because I quite literally remember growing up alongside it.
I remember rushing home from school, well into my teens, to watch it on E4. I remember revelling in the humour, relationships and empathizing with the Gilmore coffee addiction. I wanted to be a journalist like Rory. I wanted to be whirlwind like Lorelai and command a room like Emily. I identified with them, I understood them and felt all of their love and pain and all of the loss and joy as if it were my own. I saw my town in Stars Hollow. It shared the same charm, love for history and obsession for the off-centre that Linlithgow does. It was just like being at home.
We can’t attribute our childhoods to one single thing. We’re all a rich blend of our environment; our backgrounds, the friendships we make and the relationships we form. All of our experiences shape the people we grow up to be.
However, there are days that become more important than others. There are moments that shine brighter. Moments that not only influence us but actually in some inexplicable way, somehow become part of us.
That is long-winded poetry for- Gilmore Girls is a part of me.
There’s a famous Gilmore Girl quote where Lorelai and Rory are bickering but the lines between what is actually happening and the Gilmore’s hypothetical argument blurs. Lorelai, exasperated shouts:
“Reality has absolutely no place in our world!”
And it has little place in mine. Anyone that knows me will tell you that I have a flair for eccentric. I really mean dramatic but eccentric gives me a chance to redeem myself down the line.
I watch this show all year round. Rain or shine. I watch it when I’m happy, sad, sick, lonely, depressed or nostalgic. I watch it alone or with friends. I quote it in my sleep and has proven a pretty trusty benchmark when making friends. I watch it to avoid doing work or when I don’t know what to do. I watch it to make me feel better- it’s medicine, it’s comfort and it’s home. All in one neat package.
Whilst also ensuring that there is an escape route from what can be a dreary reality around me. This show brings colour, joy and fantasy- otherwise known as everything that reality needs.
Gilmore Girls has taught me to love unapologetically. It has taught me that family- the ones you chose and the ones that finds you-should always be nurtured. But most importantly, Chinese food must always, with no exceptions, be prioritised over men.
Happy Birthday x
