A Love Letter to Gilmore Girls: How the Gilmores Brought My Mom and I Closer, Just When We Needed It Most
June 1, 2024
Writer: Lola Eiserman
Editor: HY Editors
If you know me, you know I love the TV show Gilmore Girls. But if you really know me, you know why I find so much joy and comfort in turning on the show and escaping to Stars Hollow.
In December of 2022, the rain trickled down my window as my mom and I sat in the living room anxiously awaiting our family vacation. After scrolling on Netflix for an hour, my mom and I decided to turn on Gilmore Girls- which had been suggested hundreds of times. Immediately, I fell in love with the show, its fast-paced dialogue, and Lorelai Gilmore's wit. It sucked me and my mom right in. After we binge-watched a sickly number of episodes, our conversations would consist of talking about how much we loved the show. In fact, at the start, we may have spoken more about Rory and Lorelai, the iconic mother-and-daughter duo of Gilmore Girls, than we did to each other.
My mom and I have always been undoubtedly close. Our relationship reminds me much of Lorelai and Rory without the teenage pregnancy and love affairs. Everyone always said I was the miniature version of her, and we stayed close even throughout high school. However, the anxiety was looming over my head about having to leave her and the comfort of home to attend college in the fall. I didn't know it yet, but Gilmore Girls was bringing my mom and I closer together just when we needed it most.
As time went on and graduating high school came closer and closer, my mom and I would spend weekends, weekdays, and midnights together watching the show. The rest of my family hated us for it (because they just didn't get it). Watching the beauty and hardships of motherhood unfolding on the screen made me realize how amazing my mother really is and connected me more to my mother than I knew possible. As we watched Rory go through high school, we disclosed our own secrets and high school awkward moments and spent many of my nights laughing, crying, and watching Gilmore Girls.
When I left for college, I was a wreck. I am a homebody and have always dreaded leaving my mom and dad. I felt like my world was coming apart. I spent nights alone in my dorm, homesick and unable to call my mom because I knew it would make me cry more. However, as soon as my ears heard the theme song “Where You Lead,” I felt a wave of calm wash over me, and it felt like my mom was right there.
When I was away from home, Gilmore Girls became my comfort show and my reminder that ‘wherever I go,’ she would still be right there by my side.
Now I sit here, my sophomore year of college, and still, my mom, who is now unquestionably my best friend, and I have yet to finish the show (sorry Dad). As each season flew by, I decided not to watch any more episodes without her beside me. Our imaginative visits to Luke’s Diner and Friday night dinners at the Gilmores have brought me so much joy.
When I visit home, our nights consist of her waiting until my dad goes to bed and me perking up when my phone chimes with the text “Gilmore?”. Although the show’s incredible seven seasons are coming to an end, I will never forget how Lorelai and Rory Gilmore and the quaint, quirky town of Stars Hollow made me appreciate the simple beauty of a mother-daughter bond and taught me to value every moment I get to spend with my mom.