In this chapter, Graham discusses the joy that she felt in working on the show Parenthood, and she also praises the people involved. In addition to the cast, she “loved the writers and directors and [her] boss, Jason Katims, who was the person responsible for establishing this wonderful environment in the first place” (150). She describes the entire team’s kindness, attention to detail, and personal care of the company.

She also notes the efficiency with which the show was run; the hours were not nearly as hectic as the schedules of other shows, and the actors had much more time to pursue their own creative or business endeavors. Additionally, the cast and crew were always fed well and were frequently given opportunities to bond. Overall, Graham felt very lucky to be able to work on Parenthood, and she recalls this period of her life with great fondness.

Graham states that when she first began to notice the age gap between herself and her younger co-stars, she found a humorous way to manage this change: the character of Old Lady Jackson. This figure is “a character [Graham] made up when [she] started catching [herself] giving advice—initially to Mae and Miles on the Parenthood set—that sounded like it came from your gray-haired grandma” (155). This way, any advice that she gave that felt old-fashioned could be blamed on her alter ego. She ironically states that Old Lady Jackson was not with the times, but Lauren Graham was.

In this chapter, she uses the persona of Old Lady Jackson to reflect on the next generations and the changing times. Specifically, she expresses her concern that society is spending too much time on electronic devices, thereby missing the wonders of life beyond the screen. She admits that she is not exempt from this “checked-out, drugged sort of look we get when on our phones” (159), but she does question the wisdom of this social trend. To further explain her concerns and give advice to readers, she writes a letter from the perspective of Old Lady Jackson.

In the letter, Old Lady Jackson outlines the number of apps that keep track of every part of her life: her steps, the music she listens to, when to water the plants, and the birthdays of her family members. She stops then and realizes that she “take[s her] walk every morning rain or shine […and] water[s her] plants when the soil looks dry, and [she hasn’t] forgotten [her] nephew’s birthday once ever” (163). Old Lady Jackson starts to question whether people actually need these apps to do everything for them.

Graham ends the chapter by putting the consequences of excessive screen time into perspective. She writes: “If absolutely everything important is only happening on such a small screen, isn’t that a shame? Especially when the world is so overwhelmingly large and surprising?” (163). She tells readers that they will be older too, one day, and will need to reflect on how they have spent their lives. She implores them to look up and appreciate all that they have been missing.

The penultimate chapter of Graham’s memoir is primarily composed of a diary that she kept during the filming of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. She writes about the experience of returning to a beloved show with her colleagues and spends time comparing and contrasting the two different iterations of Gilmore Girls. She also notes how she changed as a person in the time span between these two endeavors.

Graham recounts that rumors about a reboot had been swirling ever since the original show had ended. In March 2015, Graham joined other former cast members in Austin, Texas to celebrate “a Gilmore Girls reunion” (168-69). After the festival, Amy Sherman-Palladino asked Graham a few strange and cryptic questions, such as whether she remembered asking Amy to write her the longest monologue in history, but Graham did not place much importance on the conversation. Finally, “there was a press release that Netflix would indeed carry the new episodes—four 90-minute movies” (170). After months of casual conversations and odd questions from Amy, the reboot became a reality.

Graham recounts the emotions involved in returning to the show, especially since “Ed Herrmann had passed away the previous winter” (173). Ed had portrayed Graham’s father, Richard Gilmore, on the original show, and his death was written into the reboot. In addition to that issue, there were many moments that brought tears to Graham’s eyes during filming, such as cameos with old friends and the opportunity to introduce herself as Lorelai. Graham says of this moment, “All I’m doing in that scene is giving some strangers basic information. Still, for some reason, tears. I guess I was overwhelmingly happy to get to say her name again” (174). Lorelai Gilmore is the role that Graham loves most, and she was ecstatic to revisit the Gilmore Girls world.

Graham also notes that during the reboot of Gilmore Girls, there were moments when the worlds of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood collided. Dax Shepard, who was Graham’s co-star on Parenthood, was in the trailer having his makeup done at the same time as Graham, and Alexis Bledel and Mae Whitman (both of Graham’s on-screen daughters) were cast in a reading together. Graham states that these intersections evoked an even stronger sense of nostalgia for her.

When the original series wrapped, Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Dan, were absent, because they could not get their contracts negotiated. Therefore, the series did not originally end with the now-famous last four words of the show. Graham recalls that she did not know these words herself, and she finally decided to ask Amy to tell her. Although Graham does not want to write the words out in her book, she does explain, “They are not, however, what I was expecting, because they […] do not end the story we are telling as much as they introduce something that was previously unknown” (184). When Graham asked Amy if the show’s ending wasn’t more of a cliffhanger, Amy just smiled.

During the table read for the fourth episode, Graham got her wish for a very long monologue. She writes, “I don’t know if it’s the longest monologue in the history of television, […] but [it] is certainly the longest I’ve ever had as an actor” (186). She states that monologue had everyone in tears at the end of the table read. She also describes another emotional moment on set, when Carole King (who wrote the original theme song of Gilmore Girls and played the role of Sophie on the show), sat down at a piano to play for the cast. Graham recalls that at this point in filming, she stopped being surprised at these magical coincidences.

All too soon, the shoot for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was over. The last time Graham left the set of Gilmore Girls, she wasn’t certain that it would be the last episode and went home in a blue coat her character wore, thinking she’d have the chance to return it. This time, knowing that it would be the last day on set, she and Alexis Bledel took a few select treasures from the set as mementos, then grabbed a bottle of champagne to make a small toast with Amy Sherman-Palladino.

On the last day, ironically, Graham could not find the blue coat that she took from the first iteration of Gilmore Girls. She reflects that the coat has been there for her since the first time they did the show. She thinks of the revival scenes, which feature one character “giving things away because she’s […[ being thankful for the past, [and] realizing it’s just as important to welcome and embrace the future” (205). Graham decides to do the same, and so she thanks the blue coat for all the wonderful memories it gave her over the years, then chooses to let it go.

The final chapter of this edition of Graham’s book consists of a series of updates that she wrote after Talking as Fast as I Can was initially published in 2016. In this bonus chapter, she states that the cover art for the book was “exactly what [she] wanted, and nothing resembling what [she’d] described” (210). She also relates anecdotes about her time on Curb Your Enthusiasm and notes the milestone of celebrating her 50th birthday with Peter, the Sherman-Palladinos, and a few other close friends.

To close the circle, she recounts the time that she was a guest on the Gilmore Guys podcast, a show in which the hosts discuss Gilmore Girls at length. One of the hosts, Kevin, told her “that they end every episode by singing the theme song, Carole King’s ‘Where You Lead’” (222). At first she was nervous to sing along, but then she remembered everything that the song and the show represents for her,, so she joined in and sang the song with pride.