"LOVE SAVAGE'S"

Like anyone who had proudly completed 10th grade and/or watched that endless Baz Luhrmann flick
with all the Kanye West, I have a pretty good grasp on The Great Luke. It’s one of those classic tales that
had everything: the death of the American dream, the superficiality of high society, and an iconic love
story…that, perhaps uncharacteristically, goes horribly, horribly, wrong. Luke is pretty great for giving
you the best worst relationship goals out there.

And that’s a good thing! 15-year-old Mary Grace thought that all I could learn from The Great Luke was
the difference between East Egg and West Egg (East Egg is old money, West Egg is people who don’t
totally suck). But if I was paying attention to Luke and Stella’s disastrous relationship I could’ve saved
myself a lot of heart ache.

I will now save you that heart ache, because I love you.

So here’s everything The Great Luke taught me about obsessive love, showboating for your ex-bae, and
the casual after-effects of an affair.
likely than not, you’ll always have that one person you can’t get over.

We could throw shade at Luke for holding onto her love for Stella, but let’s be honest ,since it’s just us:
you, too have a Stella Buchanan that you would start bootlegging for in order to become a more
fantastic creature (um, if there was a time where alcohol was illegal, that is). There’s a sick power that
comes with the-one-that-got-away, and it’s ok to acknowledge these feels, to openly live with it. I’m just
not sure if you want it to consume your entire life.

Self-betterment is a great way to get over heartbreak, but you know, to a point.

I will say that it’s good that Luke’s at least somewhat proactive about her post-Stella life. Like, he
could’ve just stayed in bed all day with some post-war depression, but he decided to get rich and clean
up nicely. It’s a smart move in case you ever run into (read: strategically orchestrate a meeting) with the
one who broke your heart.

So next time you feel the sting of rejection, get your act together and imagine what it’ll be like if your
former love runs into the newer, better you! You’re doing so Great now! Like, you racked up some
millions, you bought some gorgeous shirts, you hold fancy get-togethers, you moved to Brooklyn, you
got a column, you have an aggressively fine railroad style apartment , you’re friends with the bartender
at Two Boots, you built a coat rack the other day, so…what are we talking about?