Winner: amidalooine
Subject: Star Wars Celebrations IV
Recipient: her children

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Luke: What a piece of junk!
Han Solo: She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid.
Star Wars (1977)


Hi there!

Right now you have to be wondering just how crazy your mom is for handing a letter to you from a complete stranger. I mean COMPLETE STRANGER as in someone she's never met, never actually talked to, and has no idea what he looks like, let alone what he might be like when he isn't typing about a movie series like Star Wars. I'm sure this letter does nothing to alter your opinion about the women I know as 'amidalooine' and you know as 'mom' but I hope you'll bear with me for a moment....thank you.

As your mother has probably told you, just like her, I have a web journal on www.starwars.com. I go by a Star Wars name too: Kenobi-fan. Just like many others there, I write at great length about Star Wars and how it impacts my life or allows me to see adventure in some of the most mundane and trivial aspects of life. Now I don't mean to say that I carry a $200 movie prop tied to my belt in the hopes I can show off some nifty moves a la Napoleon Dynamite...I don't. I mean, I do have such items, but I don't usually wear them...usually. (I must ask that you please hold all laughter until after you've completed this letter...thank you, again).

Anyway, back to why I'm writing to you... Your mother requested I try to persuade you that attending the Star Wars Celebrations event in May 2007 isn't as silly as it might sound. She has a lot of guts asking a near stranger to speak to you about Star Wars, not to mention a huge fan event, but then again that's the person your mom appears to be: adventurous. Okay, I admit, I'm making a lot of assumptions when I say that however you must understand how courageous it is that she is willing to share her insights and feelings about this series. Even when shrouded by an avatar and an enigmatic name, it takes thought and heart to write about something you truly care about, no matter if it's a movie, a person, or a place, and put it out there at the risk of being ridiculed.

Yet, even at the risk of being laughed at, people like your mom are willing to get together for the most basic of reasons: just to have fun. Sure, a Star Wars event provides opportunities to see actors, directors, effects specialists and others that helped bring such a story to life, but more important than all of that, is the chance to spend time with people who accept you just as you are, even if you look a little goofy at times. It's what true friends and family provide to those they support and its one of the things we love about Star Wars.

Surely, you're aware that beyond the space battles, romance, and drama, Star Wars is about a group of strangers that learn to depend on one another for guidance and support in the midst of incredible obstacles. Whether we're talking Luke, Leia, & Han from the original series or Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme in the prequels, it all comes down to standing alongside those you care about and who care about you. It is this attitude that so many of us admire in the series: the willingness to stand alongside your friends in the good times, the bad times, and where a fan event is concerned, even the silly times.

Now I don't mean to get all serious on you, it is just a bunch of movies. However, I hope you'll come to understand as I did, that in participating in something as imaginative as a fan event - any fan event - you're actually allowing yourself to relax and release some of the stress that as an adult is an all too common trait. Stories and events like Star Wars Celebrations help us to reduce life's complexity for a brief time with the hope of adding some magic to our daily experiences too. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I think it provides a lot of joy at times. And I don't think you can ever have too much joy in your life. In fact, I know you can't...revel in what you can grab hold of.

Now, before I conclude this missive to you, and I do appreciate your patience, I would like to relate to you an experience of mine from just two months ago. It doesn't have anything to do with Star War really but I think it's relevant. It's about my mom. I don't get to see her too often anymore; she lives in Florida, while I work and live in Illinois. Like your mom, she worked hard to see my brothers and I had what we needed in life. So, now that I'm a grown up, I try to give back a little bit of what she's given to me. Anyway, this past October, she came to visit and desperately wanted to take the same train I take to work. She'd never been on a train before and thought it be fun. Now I ride this boring metal contraption twice a day, 52 weeks a year...it's about as boring a ride as you can have. As silly as it sounded, I couldn't deprive her of such a simple request. All we did was get on the train, get our tickets punched, rode it for about 40-minutes, got off to have some breakfast, chatted a bit, and then got back on and went home.

It was a simple boring little train ride...and I will never forget the joy I saw in her eyes the entire time.

All she wanted to do was to have a little adventure and spend some time with her eldest son while we regaled ourselves with memories of past adventures together. What from the outset sounded so innocent that it actually made me laugh at first, left me with a profound sense of what people find true joy in. I know this much - moms always have something to teach us, even when we become adults - never forget that.

I guess all I'm trying to say is give your mom a little slack. She just wants to participate in something fun and adventurous - the very things that make life worth living - I think we all want that whatever our age. Just because this thing has the words, Star Wars, associated with it only adds a little color to it all.

I'll conclude by saying your mom sounds very special and very loving. And though I only know her from her blog entries along with the comments she makes about my journal entries, I have a sense about people. Its nothing mystical mind you, just a feeling. And I feel your mom is going to have a lot of fun at Star Wars Celebrations IV, fun that she's just waiting to share with you...if you'll let her.

You crazy kids take care.

Sincerely,

Kenobi-fan

(Okay, you can laugh now...ha!)