Entertainment
If you grew up with the Gilmore Girls, there's a good chance that you, well, really grew up with the Gilmore girls. You were practically peers with Rory and understood that first kiss panic and endured similar college application stress, all in real time. But time is strange; Lorelai was 32 years old at the beginning of the series, an adult by all accounts, and we perhaps didn't feel isolated by her because she wasn't like a regular mom. She was a cool mom. But when you go back and re-watch the show, you start to understand certain Lorelai Gilmore moments on a soul level for the first time.
Of course, everyone's experiences are different, so I mean this in broad generalizations. For example, not all of us have been pregnant at 16 and had their formative post-adolescent years marked by child-rearing. That in itself would separate most of us from the elder Gilmore girl. But I'm personally entering the latter half of my 20s (dear God, help me) and, dealing with youths in a bit of a condescending lens, I find myself relating more Lorelai-leaning than Rory.
If you still don't buy it, scroll down and relive some of Lorelai's highs and lows that seem all too familiar now that we're older.
1
When She Gracefully Handles Being Hit On At Luke's
The first few times you get creeped on, there's a sort of innocent anxiousness that comes with the fresh experience. And while for some of us that anxiousness never truly goes away, you have steady methods put in place after a certain point.
2
When She Endures The Pain Of Asking Her Parents For Money
Oh, it sucks. It sucks especially if you're trying your damnedest to be a strong independent woman.
3
When She Chastises Rory For Ruining Her Life For A Boy
Nothing makes you feel older than when you have to give the whole "You're a teenager and you don't know what you're talking about" speech.
4
When She Gets Stuck In Daisy Dukes After Being Late On Laundry Day
Sometimes real life gets in the way, sometimes you're just short of quarters, but we've all been stuck wearing something deeply inappropriate because we forgot to get a dark wash done.
5
When She Had To Weirdly Explain That Max Spent The Night
This is an uncomfortable reality that one confronts in the days of dorms. And yet, even if you graduate to separate rooms (sometimes with actual doors, sometimes with well-placed curtains), you still might end up making some awkward explanations about why so-and-so is on your couch or in your bathroom.
6
When She Actually Enjoyed Hanging Out With Emily
In many mother-daughter relationships, you grow into becoming friends with your mom instead of having that instant Rory-Lorelai connection. When Emily and Lorelai talk Barbara Stanwyck, you can see that forming. Spoiler: it doesn't last.
7
When She Defended Her Life And Success To Emily After Rory Doesn't Come Home
So, sometimes after you reach an understanding with your mom, she does a total 360 and rags on you for ruining your life. You haven't ruined your life just because you're not living the upper-middle class dream, OK? You have a beautiful park-side apartment in Greenpoint and if she doesn't like the Marilyn Manson painting in your living room she can get the hell out.
8
When She Found Out Richard Suffered A Heart Attack
To clarify, tragedy doesn't care about how old you are. Maybe some of you experienced that terrifying phone call back in the days of flip phones. However, it seems that around 20s and 30s medical emergencies with parents tend to become more commonplace.
9
When She Gets Stuck On A Double Date With Someone Appalling Who Doesn't Even Like Her
Oh my God, and his name is Rune, because it's always someone with a bullsh*t name.
10
When She Has To Hunt Down Louise And Madeline After They Bailed At The Bangles
When you're in charge of someone and they bail — whether that's your boyfriend's niece or your drunk friend — you get surprised by how quickly your panic melts into determined fury. It's all very adult.
11
When She Hooked Up With Christopher To Relive Old Times
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, guys; this is why we have so many Gilmore Girls listicles.
12
When She Had To Be The Voice Of Reason During Rory's First Break-Up
I found myself counseling someone through their very first break-up recently, and I kept recounting all those feelings that one goes through with a weird wisdom and a hazy recollection... because my first heartbreak happened literally 10 years ago.
13
When She Called Christopher At Her Bachelorette Party
I'm not saying this is something we've specifically all done. I'm just saying it's pretty commonplace to freak-out and call your ex when you're uncertain about your current situation.
14
When She Took An Impromptu Road Trip To Avoid Marrying Max
Also, I've never really bailed on an engagement this way, and yet I can vouch that, when someone wants to get away from a break-up, they ready to put their menial savings into it and get away — complete with a suspiciously sunny Facebook album.
15
When She Got Conned Into That Weird Mother-Daughter Fashion Show
You'd think that, after a certain point, you get to bail on these kind of mortifying things — college gave me a solid respite — and then you get wrangled back into those Greek Church Mother's Day Banquets. Sigh.
16
When Her And Sookie Argued About The Logistic Of Opening An Inn
Friend fights tend to get a bit more intense once you start getting into business with your bestie. Like, yeah, you understand your main girl has never had punctuality or reliability as a virtue, but it's not so cute when she shows up late to a meeting.
17
When She Gets Luke To Bid On Her Basket
Oh, having your ruggedly hot guy friend to "save" you from other suitors is such a sly move, even when your attraction isn't out in the open yet.
18
When Richard And Emily Attended Her Graduation Ceremony
"What's the big deal? Don't parents go to graduation ceremonies all the time? Isn't it the one time they're almost guaranteed to show up?" Yes, and not only that but it usually happens in your adolescence, when most of us are attending that whole school thing. But this is akin to that one accomplishment your parents unexpectedly recognized: that article you were really proud of, that EP you you finally mixed. Whatever the ambition is, you become especially grateful to have your parents support.
19
"You Know What's Great About Being A Grown-Up? This."
YEAH, GIRL.
20
When She Attends Shelly's Baby Shower With All The Asinine Little Games
There is no deeper hell than being a single at the baby shower of someone you can barely stand. Hell, I feel like even the most baby-obsessed soccer mom secretly loathes this ritual.
21
When She Helps Rory Through Her First Day Of Chilton With Fast Food
There is a little nugget of wisdom that one picks up eventually: pizza is a great mediator. When you don't know how to ease over a social event (getting a party started, rewarding friends that helped you move into a new place), that is the go-to move.
22
When She Scolds Rory For Being The Other Woman
Again, I want to reassert that everyone's view on morality is somewhat different. From my experience, there's definitely a time during female relationships where one party does something stupid and the other party chooses not to judge because that girl gets the best friend pass. But then sometimes you reach a breaking point where you just start applying logic and objectivity, as what happens here.
23
When She Attends Her Parents Recommitment Ceremony
This isn't likely to happen if you came from a divorced household (or maybe it will if you're that kind of wacky family), but it happened to me, and, dear God, did I feel old.
24
When She Scolds Rory For Wanting To Leave Yale
Again, part of adulthood is being able to tell your friend that she is ruining her life, do not leave Yale, do not move with your boyfriend to San Francisco, it is a bad idea. This is also, along with business battles, one of those things that can really lead to an estrangement, and that's precisely what happens here.
25
When She Adopts Paul Anka
I want to point out that she's also fully not capable of having a dog, just as none of us are when we make that sort of impulse adoption. And yet we're all better people for doing it.
26
When She And Luke Went Vacationing At Martha's Vineyard With Rory And Logan
This is like double dating deluxe, because going on weekend getaways with your S.O. and another couple is like, prime adulthood. Also, it always unintentionally leads to tensions between the group and one couple being decidedly cozier than the other. Sigh.
27
When She Makes That Inappropriate Speech At Lane's Wedding
This. Oh my God, this. I hope none of you ever had an eight-shots-of-tequila-fueled meltdown where you started sobbing about your broken engagement, but we've all been stuck at some 22-year-old's wedding getting hammered because we're still devastatingly single. Again, God, do I feel old.
With age comes understanding, and I think that we're all glad that, as we get older, there's still a Gilmore girl that we totally get.
