Growing up a child in the 80’s, there was little you could do to escape the phenomenon that was Star Wars.  My little brother had sheets, a million toys and movies.  It was established early on that we were to choose between the dark side or upholding truth and honor like a jedi. We spoke in yoda speak,  made our hair to look like princess Leia buns as we traded in our barbies for something more badass. We wished we had our own Wookie and pretended our teddy bears were Ewoks. Anything could become a light saber and we were transported to a galaxy far far away while never leaving our own back yard.  Who knew that 30+ years later we,  the kids who both loved and feared Darth Vader would be sharing it with our own children.
  My son was introduced to Star Wars about six years ago.  He was four years old and instantly became hooked.  For about 4 months straight every day he would watch one of the episodes over and over again.  Carefully looking at each character and analyzing their purpose.  Nothing was missed.  Then came the posters,  the bed sheets,  the shower curtains,  the toys.  The search for a cheaper version of the very expensive Millennium Falcon.  We found Halloween costumes.  He had chosen the light side and went as a Luke Skywalker.  I like the movies,  concocted a plot twist.  I dressed up as Darth Vader.  I remember walking up to him and him jumping up in delight.  I whispered the famous line “Luke. ..I am your father. …and mother” he laughed and said “Mommy that’s not the line” so i lifted up my mask and plot twist- my makeup had been done as Queen Amidala underneath.  Mind blown moment.  He was all excited and screamed “your my mother and my father! !! Whaaaaat! , best costume!” And off we went to trick or treat randomly breaking out our light sabers for a duel in the streets.  Because you see i was transformed back to childhood and my son was my best friend. 

  Fast forward to six years later and he’s eleven.  Still loves star wars,  still has the shower curtains and the soft cuddly darth Vader blanket.  We now have a collection of light sabers and now he favors Mace Windus purple saber.  I smile inside because he has chosen the light side and on top of it has chosen a wise master Jedi.  We hear in October that the movie tickets are going on sale for the December premier.  My son calls me on the way home from school and says “mommy you have to get tickets! ” little did he know that i had just spent the last 45 minutes attempting this and had just scored 2 tickets to the Friday showing of the movie.  Yes,  it was that serious,  yes it was a necessity to buy them almost two months in advance.  I printed out the tickets and brought them home to show him.  We decided they needed to be in a safe place and every few weeks i would see him go check on them to make sure they were still there. Safe and sound.

  The week we had been waiting for was finally here.  Friday morning had come and we talked about watching the movie that night.  Did a final check for the tickets to make sure they had not been stolen by storm troopers and planned to go at 7. When i got home from work we found our Star Wars T-Shirts and my son brought out two pairs of socks.  One Darth Vader,  one Yoda. He handed me one of each and did the same for him.  We wore mismatched matching socks in solidarity.  Grabbed the tickets,  took a few pictures and off we went to see The Force Awakens. 
  Now if you haven’t been to a premier showing,  any genre with fans,  this is something that you need to do once in your life.  People are happy, friendships are forged with strangers,  costumes are worn and the comradeship is deep.  Everyone is united in their fandom. My son had his light saber and was making friends with kids who wanted to know how he managed to get the purple one.
We finally were seated amidst chatter from young and old,  excited squeals from people about what they thought,  who was Kylo Ren? My son excited that his old friends,  Han Solo,  Princess Leia (General Organa), Chewbacca, R2D2, C3p0 and Luke Skywalker were rumored to make an appearance.  The movie starts and the credits roll like usual “in a galaxy far far away. ….” i glance over at my son who sits there wide eyed and smiling.  He whispers “Let it begin” and i chuckle.  To share this moment with him,  to be here and be transported back to childhood in wonderment. We were both a couple of kids sitting there in awe of what George Lucas created, light saber in hand we knew we would always be Jedis in our hearts and I knowingly look at my son and think  “The force is strong with this one”  and everything is going to be ok.

-Go out & be awesome ♡ Denise