Gilmore Handbook Rule 25

Memories can be tangible or intangible, but visual aids make the memories seem less distant. Keep the little things that remind you of those you love.

Lorelai woke up, still not able to believe that she was single, a divorcee. She hadn't really intended to get married on the Paris trip, but she had. She shook it off, realizing that she'd have to go and break the news to Rory. It was the only thing to do. She got up and walked to the closet, looking for a fresh towel. She was half awake, so maneuvering in the dark room wasn't going to be easy. She stepped into the closet a little, reaching up to grab the towel, when she kicked a box.

"Ouch!" she said, her morning voice making itself known. She rubbed her eyes and put her hand on the door frame, leaning her head against it to try and stand up straight. She hated that early morning feeling when she couldn't stand up, her head was in such a fog. She looked down, trying to regain focus, and she saw a box marked 'Luke'.

So she wasn't quite ready for that yet. Not this early. In the morning or in her newfound single status. But something compelled her to look. She slipped on Fred and Ethel, her piggy slippers, and sat cross legged on the floor.

One by one, she pulled out the items from the box. There was a spatula and a frying pan… the ones he liked. They weren't the cheap kind, they were apparently the Coach-slash-Tiffany's of cooking utensils. There were the Barbie band-aids. The one blue flannel shirt she'd stolen from him and claimed as her own. The last package of peppermint tea she'd kept in the cabinet for when he stayed over.

Paul Anka came up behind her, nudging her arm. Lorelai wrapped her arm around him, unable to interpret her emotions upon finding the box, let alone finding it in her current state. She was sure she'd thrown those away… but of course, Rory had probably salvaged them for her somehow.

And as Lorelai packed all the things back up and placed them in the closet once again, she was kind of glad Rory did.

"You kept a box of things that reminded you of me?" Luke asked, unable to comprehend the concept.

Lorelai nodded. "You pack away everything that reminds you of the guy, and you swear you're going to throw it away. Somehow, the boxes show up again, reminding you of the good things about the other person. You don't hate it once you remember that the stuff exists."

"I still don't see the point," Luke answered.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Okay, Mr. Black Hat replaces Blue Hat, that's fine. You don't get it."

"What she's trying to say is that it was like you putting on a new hat. The memories get too hard, seeing the stuff every day, and at the time, you want to throw it all away, but it eventually gets better. Hence the re-emergence of the boxes," Rory explained.

"It makes perfect sense," April added, grabbing a peking ravioli. "I see it."

Lorelai nudged Luke. "You still kept the horoscope, you followed the rule."

"Horoscope?" April asked.

"Hey, do you remember the first time we met?" Lorelai asked, suddenly. It seemed so odd for her to be on a date with Luke Danes, but at the same time, it all seemed right, so perfect.

"What?"

Lorelai smiled. "I'm just trying to remember the first time we met. It must have been at Luke's, right?"

Luke nodded, and began to tell the story of the first time he saw Lorelai. "It was at Luke's, it was at lunch, it was a very busy day, the place was packed, and this person…"

"Ooh, is it me? Is it me?" Lorelai gasped.

Luke ignored her question, and continued to tell the story. "This person comes tearing into the place in a caffeine frenzy."

Lorelai was giddy. "Ooh, it's me," she said in excitement.

"I was with a customer. She interrupts me, wild-eyed, begging for coffee, so I tell her to wait her turn. Then she starts following me around, talking a mile a minute, saying God knows what. So finally I turn to her, and I tell her she's being annoying -- sit down, shut up, I'll get to her when I get to her," Luke recounted.

"Y'know, I bet she took that very well, 'cause she sounds just delightful," Lorelai teased.

"She asked me what my birthday was. I wouldn't tell her. She wouldn't stop talking. I gave in. I told her my birthday. Then she opened up the newspaper to the horoscope page, wrote something down, tore it out, handed it to me," Luke explained.

Lorelai grunted. "God, seriously. You wrote the menu, didn't you?" she asked dryly.

"So I'm looking at this piece of paper in my hand, and under 'Scorpio,' she had written, 'you will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away.' I gave her coffee."

"But she didn't go away," Lorelai said, grinning.

Luke reached for his wallet. "She told me to hold on to that horoscope, put it in my wallet, and carry it around with me…" he pulled out the horoscope from his wallet, handing it to Lorelai, "and one day it would bring me luck."

"Well, man, I will say anything for a cup of coffee," she teased, unfolding the horoscope and reading it. Suddenly, memories from that day came rushing back, and Lorelai was completely stunned. "You kept this in your wallet? You kept this in your wallet."

Luke nodded. "Eight years," he confirmed.

"Eight years," Lorelai said, touched.

Rory shoved a chicken finger in her mouth. "I still find that very romantic," she said, chewing.

"I never knew that. That is really romantic," April echoed, reaching across Luke for a napkin.

Lorelai grinned. "I'm surprised he didn't burn it long ago, when he was mad at me for whatever," she replied.

"Well, I was getting lucky all of a sudden, I didn't see a need," Luke replied.

Lorelai gasped. "So dirty!"

Luke blushed. "Jeez, I didn't mean it like that!"

"You walked right into that one, Luke," Rory added.

April giggled. "Yeah, you did."

"Which brings me to my next rule," Lorelai said, reaching for the rule book.

Luke stopped her. "Pirates? How did that remind you of the rule?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Remember when you told me the limits of what CD's you were going to buy?"

"Oh. Got it. Crazy connection, but a connection at that. Are we almost done here?"

Giggling, Lorelai pointed to the rule number. "Does that look like 43 to you?"

"Here we go," Luke sighed.