“Copperboom!”
No, this is not a common term in the English language. This is a term commonly shared between my mom and I when we miss each other or when we’re seeing each other soon. This term was coined, however, from an iconic mother and daughter: Lorelai and Rory from Gilmore Girls.
Gilmore Girls premiered on Oct. 5, 2000. (Don’t worry. I feel old, too). Running for eight seasons before airing its final episode on May 15, 2007, Gilmore Girls provided mothers, daughters, sisters and friends with spunky, fast-paced dialogue and colorful characters every week. Lorelai and Rory: the dynamic duo of mother-daughter television.
Quick synopsis in case you have not been blessed with knowledge about Gilmore Girls: Lorelai Gilmore had her daughter, Rory, at 16 years old. Once Rory was a year old, Lorelai packed her things, left her cushy life with her stand-offish parents in Hartford, Connecticut and took Rory to a small town called Stars Hollow. In this town, Lorelai established her career early on by working at the Independence Inn. Rory grew up, meeting her best friend Lane in first grade. Lane loves music and Rory loves books; Lane dreams of being a drummer and Rory dreams of going to an Ivy League school. Throughout the entire show, the only constant is the fact that Lorelai and Rory are best friends.
Watching Gilmore Girls has been one of the most formative components in my relationship with my mom. We have watched the show together for as long as I can remember, and now I can easily say my obsession has reached a level of psychosis only Freud himself would be able to understand.
When I was younger, the show would air on Tuesday evenings. My mom and I would look at the clock and realize it was time for Gilmore Girls. We would run into her bedroom and jump on her bed, turn on the T.V. and lay on our stomachs, singing the theme song to each other. This attitude about Gilmore Girls and the bond we share because of it has been consistent throughout my whole life.
Jill Brennan-Lincoln is the chair of the theater department at APU. However, she also played Crazy Carrie Duncan in Gilmore Girls. Crazy Carrie was a recurring role that was eclectic, comedic and flirtatious. If you’re familiar with the show, you know Crazy Carrie as the woman who’s completely obsessed with Luke from Luke’s Diner, and refuses to believe that he does not find her attractive.
“It was a really fun part, because it was such a strange character,” said Lincoln. “It’s so fun to be a part of something that was bonding for parents and moms and daughters.”
Gilmore Girls has given my mom and I a consistent conversation topic and watching the show is almost always how we spend our time together when I go home. Beyond that, my mom and I hold an alarmingly similar relationship to that of Lorelai and Rory. My mom is my best friend; we share everything with one another, we watch movies with cookie dough and coffee and we never go a day without talking.
In the last episode of season three, Rory graduates from her high school as valedictorian. She gives a speech talking about her classmates, her grandparents, her town, and of course, Lorelai. “My mom never gave me any idea that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. (…) As she guided me through these incredible eighteen years [22 in my case], I don’t know if she ever realized the person I most wanted to be was her.”
These words could not ring more true for me and how I feel about my mom. This moment in the show speaks volumes to Lorelai and Rory’s relationship and volumes to my relationship with my momma. I would encourage every mother-daughter duo to find something to bond over like my mom and I have been able to bond over Gilmore Girls. To have that thing I look forward to every time I go home, and to constantly have something fun to talk to my mom about has radically changed the way we interact and relate to one another.