In 1977, a 17-year-old boy went to his hometown theater to see the newest film in his favorite genre of science fiction: Star Wars. What he saw blew him away, and his life (and the world, for that matter) has never been quite the same since. That boy was my dad, about 11 years before I was born.

My dad was never a very "geekish" fan; no action figures or original Bantha Tracks for him. But he always enjoyed Star Wars, and its sequels, immensely, and about 22 years after his first viewing he passed his 'fandom' on to me when we first watched A New Hope together.

In 1999, the year I first saw Star Wars, the only versions of the movies available were the Special Editions. I knew that I was missing something, but over the years I resigned myself to a world without the "Original" Original Trilogy.

"They've got the Special Editions now," I told myself. "Why would they bring back an obsolete version of Star Wars?"

But I didn't really feel the connection. I'd never seen the original Ewok celebration, "Lapti Nek", or whether Han really shot first. Now, I finally get to see the movie that defined the science fiction film and captivated my dad and countless others so many years ago. Things have finally come full circle.

But what's really amazing are all the parallels between my dad's 'fandom' and my own. We both love the soundtracks; he bought his on 8-track, I bought mine on CD. Star Wars premiered 2 months after his 17th birthday, and now the same version is 'premiering' a month after I turn 18.

Destiny? Or the Force? You decide.

May the Force be with you,
-- i12bajedi