Goodbye, GGs (Gilmore Girls)

I don't watch much TV..... being more frank, I only watch certain shows and watch TV more often when I'm under the weather and in a fog. When I met C last March she kept referring to "The GGs". The BeeGees? No, the GGs.... the Gilmore Girls. You know, the series. No, I don't know about the GGs. I'm a Discovery, History, Food, Animal Planet and former ER kinda girl. Oh, you have to watch it, she gushed.... you'll love it. The Gilmore Girls ran for 6 seasons.... one could say 5 1/2. The main characters? Richard and Emily Gilmore, very well heeled, well-off couple from Hartford, CT who had one child - one rebellious child - Loreli. At age 16 Loreli became pregnant by her high school sweetheart, Christopher. They did not get married, the Gilmores were mortified and Loreli ran away. She, as a single young mother, ran away and started a life of her own that had nothing whatsoever to do with the cookie-cutter life she perceived her parents would have put her through. She had a daughter - whom she named Loreli (after all, men name boys after themselves!) - who took the nickname Rory. Mother and daughter were as much friends as anything else. Loreli started out as a maid at a bed and breakfast, (the Independence Inn of Stars Hollow, CT) and worked her way up to manager. Eventually Loreli went into business with her best friend, Suki, a chef. All the while, Rory grew up as a brainiac with Loreli's wicked, often sarcastic, witty sense of humor. Stars Hollow had its own cast of characters - real 'one of a kind's. Some were recurring characters, others temporary. One thing had remained constant - from the onset of Loreli's pregnancy to Rory reaching age 15 - there was little or no contact with the Hartford Gilmores. Until Loreli had to borrow money to pay for Rory's tuition to a private school which would give her and edge to get into Harvard. Richard and Emily would make the payments, but in return, Loreli and Rory would have to come to dinner in Hartford every Friday night, without fail. The friction was palpable during most of the dinners. Christopher, Rory's father would pop into the storyline from time to time - Loreli and Christopher even recently married, only to find out that it wouldn't work: Christopher had been inconsistant and Loreli was not in love. There were a few engagements - or at least proposals - even to Rory (who eventually went to and graduated from Yale). There was the affinity with Luke, owner of the town diner (which had formerly been his father's hardware store). Last night was the series final episode. Rory had spontaneously gotten the job of online correspondent with full press credentials on the election trail with Barack Obama. The town was thrown for a loop because it was planning to throw a graduation re-enactment party the following week. At the last minute, Luke (in invisible shining armor over his flannel shirt and reversed baseball cap) saved the day and got the town organized to throw the party in about 24 hours - under a makeshift tent on the town square. Loose ends were tied, Rory was happy finally becoming a journalist, there was a hint of a romantic reunion between the once engaged Loreli and Luke and .... especially touching..... was the moment when Loreli told her mother she would still show up for Friday night dinners.... even without an ounce of obligation held over her head. Laughter and tears, the stuff of which this life is made. The writing, casting, direction, acting were first rate, even toward the end of the run. The scripts, dialogue, situations sounded like real life. For the most part, the series was real, often sounded chattery but real and the themes of abandonment, disappointment, forgiveness, individuality, reconciliation, aching for acceptance and validation came through week after week. Peace and tranquility on the GGs were a rare commodity...... sort of sounds like life and church, doesn't it?? Goodbye, good folks of Stars Hollow and the DAR and Hartford. I will miss you and am sure others will too. Got a comment? Just tack one at the end of this essay.