During Cinemax's recent SW frenzy, one of my sophomore girls happened to catch TPM for the first time. She had already seen AOTC, and wanted the back story on The Romance. So after her weekend viewing, she skipped into my class during homeroom and announced, "That Padme girl is a freak, Ms. K!"

Now, before the talifan commence a search and destroy mission with my poor school as their latest target, let me explain. Having watched the romance unfold backwards, the young lady was, er, slightly appalled that Miss Naberrie 'hooked up' with Anakin when she was a blossoming 14 and he a mere tyke of 10.

Of course, at this point, I had to defend my beautiful pre-ROTS Anakin, as did a few of my male students, who were pretty impressed that he had enough game to catch the attention of his future wife at such an early age (in case you missed it, there has actually been recent talk of Anakin's early pick-up lines here)

I also ended up having to defend myself. You see, I too am a proud member of the Robbing-the-Cradle Club (Hubby-Wan is 35, and I have a whole two years on him). The age difference seems insignificant now, but when you're a teenager, two years difference can seem like an awful lot. (It actually seems huge to our daughter, who never tires of pointing out that Daddy, as big as he is, is still 'littler' than Mommy.)

Funny thing is, when I was in high school myself, I never dreamed I'd end up with anything but an older man. (I am, after all, the same girl who was smitten with Han Solo at the tender age of 7 ) I was only 16 when I graduated from high school, and I spent most of my school years being a year or two younger than most of my classmates. Most of my college guy-friends seemed a bit immature and aimless for my tastes, sowing their 'wild oats' and the like. I was always attracted to guys who seemed like they knew where they were going and what they wanted, and those guys were usually done with school, or had skipped it altogether.

About 15 years later, but before Prince Charming came along, I met a colleague who held my same position in a different program and location. As he was sort-of a co-worker, and 8 years my junior to boot, the idea that we could be anything more than friends never occured to me, and I allowed Mr. Youngster to get close to me as a friend, figuring he probably looked at me as a big sister.

Yeah. Ladies, ask C3PO what the odds are that our male friends really look at us in a brotherly way (and I don't mean the kind of brotherly love Luke was showing Leia when he gave her the grossest kiss of all time). Lo and behold, a few months down the line, I he snuck a kiss in at the end of an otherwise harmless dinner, and fortunatley, there was nothing Luke-and-Leia about it. Even still, I did have some reservations, mostly because of the age difference, although we did get along famously.

Well, after much - OK, not that much (did I mention Mr. Youngster was fiiine?) - consideration, I decided to give it a shot - we were both single, so doing the 'let's just hang out and see what happens' thing seemed pretty harmless.

Until the day when he came to pick me up dressed head to toe in Jordan -Jordan sneakers, Jordan hat, Jordan track suit. I'd venture to guess he had on Jordan boxers too, but by the end of the evening, I was soooo feeling like I was chaperoning one of my students on a field trip that I was too turned off to bother finding out for sure.

So, at this point you have every right to ask, why then would I turn around and get involved with a younger man again? Simple. Hubby-Wan (1) is much closer to my age, and (2) has gone through many more life experiences that parallel my own. Whereas the Mr. Youngster still lived with his mama, Hubby-Wan was more, er, independent, with a home of his own, and no problems taking care of himself. He had also arrived at the 'been there, done that, don't feel the need to brag about it' stage, and didn't feel compelled to hang out with his boys every weekend or spend all his money on cars and clothes. To put it bluntly, he was grown, more on account of his life experiences than his chronological age.

So, to all those who find Padme and Anakin's age difference to be scandalous, pooh to you, I say! By the time he was old enough to make his feelings known to his beloved, Anakin had already been through more than most people go through in their entire lifetime (Padme as well). Both of them also knew what it was like to live their lives in service and never ask for anything in return. With two people so well-suited for each other, a few years' difference really becomes negligible, doesn't it? (In case you weren't paying full attention to today's lesson, at this point you are to nod and say, 'Yes, of course, Brooke!')

Besides, I don't hear anyone complaining about the age difference when older men are involved . . . say, for instance, Padme had ended up with Yoda instead?

Just checking to see if you were still awake