Goodbye Girls

Tonight we said goodbye to a group of good friends. Not anyone we've met in York, but a group we've been hanging out with since last summer. We had heard about these folks from Stars Hollow and were anxious to get to know them. And so began our Sunday afternoon get-togethers with the Gilmore Girls. Maddie and I decided to start right from season one, and by the end of the first episode, we were hooked. You'd hear us saying, okay just one more and then okay, just one more. Until the disc was done, popped back in the mail, the next one eagerly anticipated. With our trip to England looming on the horizon, I purchased seasons 3 and 4 to take with us. It became a family affair.
There's so many things I love about the show, it's hard to know where to start. The deep, abiding love between a mother and her daughter. The charm of a small town. The tight community of friends. The pop culture references. The romance. It all seemed to pull at something inside me. They invited you along to believe that life lived in meaningful relationships with family and friends, is life worth living. It was at times silly and maybe a little far fetched. Jamie thought the writing was sometimes "too precious" (but he did like the poster of Derrida, in Rory's dorm room). And really, like they could eat all those pop tarts, cheeseburgers and pizza and look that good. But these are petty complaints. To me, this was a show about family. About what it takes to raise a family and be a family and all the messiness that goes along with it.

Today, was Gilmore Day at the Smith house. We had chocolate pop tarts for breakfast. We saved the final 4 episodes of the final season to watch tonight. We got out our takeout menus and did it up Gilmore style. Pizza, cheeseburgers and Chinese with pie for dessert (which we didn't actually eat because we were so full). We ate our feast with eyes glued to the screen. We were not disappointed. We cried and wondered who could ever take their place. And then I remembered that in 2 weeks, we're coming home. We can put our t.v. friends away. We have our own tight knit community of family and friends and we can't wait to see you.