One thing that is constant in our world and in the GFFA is change. It's something that just happens, sometimes planned sometimes not, but it's still something that is always with us. And change can often be good ... it helps us to understand ourselves a bit better and maybe even make improvements. I know I've been through a number of changes in my life and each one has taught me something and helped me grow. There were times that it didn't feel that way at that moment, but in hindsight I've learned to focus on the brighter side of change. Or at least I've tried.

And I started to think about change and its ramifications and results when I thought about a line from Anakin, now Darth Vader, in ROTS. His first words in his menacing new suit were of asking where Padme was and if she was alright. Now to me, it seemed an odd thing for this newly created machine monster to ask. Did he still have feelings for her after choking her, fiercely battling his former best friend, and committing himself to a master bent on destruction and dictatorship? Did he fully immerse himself in the change that would see him become Darth Vader in Palpatine's office on Coruscant? I think in that fleeting moment of awakening in his suit to Palpatine's explanation that Vader himself had killed her, he had a brief thought ... that this change was still reversible somehow and he could get to Padme once again. But that was dashed an instant later with Palpatine's revelation to him. The change had settled in. He now was Darth Vader.

But what if she had lived? Would her being alive have changed Vader back from who he had become? Would that fleeting moment as he first rose in his suit become a new change for him? Of course, he couldn't undo the things he had done that led him to Mustafar, but would he have tried to find her and rise up against the Emperor? Even if she could not be with him or if her reaction to him in his suit were of distaste, just the thought of her being alive would keep him going, would be a new hope for him. Maybe for the better.

Just as it was with Luke. Once Vader discovered Luke as his son, he was relentless to pursue him. It was the change for Vader that he needed since that moment on the medical table. Luke represented a part of Anakin, a part of Anakin's past and also Padme ... a chance for him to get closer to a part of what they once had. Yes, Palpatine had warped Anakin's mind, had convinced him to become a servant to the darkside, but the heart that beat within his chest was still full of memories and emotions. And that's what became the agent of change for Anakin. Before his eyes, his son changed into a Jedi, a change that Anakin had always truly wanted for himself too ... and he did just that by changing back to the Light and bringing a change to the galaxy and balance to the Force.

And many of the heroes in SW faced changes in their lives as much as Anakin. Luke made a similar change when he discovered his aunt and uncle's bodies on the farm and decided to follow Ben to Alderaan. Like Anakin losing Padme, Luke lost his closest family but he reacted to that change much differently ... he embraced it, felt sorrow but moved on to become stronger. Much as he did in witnessing Obi-Wan struck down by Vader.
Leia went through a massive change in seeing her world destroyed and all her family with it. How that would rip many people to shreds emotionally is beyond words, but she recovered and also became stronger.
Obi-Wan and Yoda both saw lots of changes they had to endure throughout the war and their subsequent exile. But they recognized the change that had become and also embraced it with hope for the future. Had they not had that hope, they would not have thrived in the end.

Change is inevitable. It happens to all of us sometime in our lives and sometimes many times. Some change is good and some is not so good. But if we recognize change as being a necessary part of life and embrace it with hope for the future, it won't have to be frightening. Anakin allowed change to frighten him and that fear is what led him into his dark and isolated suit. He didn't hold out the hope that good could come from the changes he was experiencing and that both he and Padme would be alright.