Star Wars.

Some curse it. (Like probably my Sister, who had to listen to me watching the films upteenth million times--and she has good company out there with similar experiences with brothers, husbands, boyfriends.. who may have become EX-boyfriends thanks to Princess Leia.)

But those like me are grateful to it. For many fans, the saga of that galaxy far away changed their lives, some more prfoundly than others. In my life, Star Wars has had an immeasurable impact and it is in listing all these impacts that I intend to celebrate the 30th Annivesary of this film.

Personal Friendships ...Thanks to Star Wars, I count some very deep friendships amongst my blessings. One of my deepest is with my friend Charlie. If you (are I) are ever going to blame someone for my love and passion for these films, he's the one. Before Charlie I had never seen A New Hope in its entirety (for some reason I always happened across it on TV and always at the Battle of Yavin). Charlie's family picked up the last video versions in 1995 before the Special Editions were released two years later. We watched all three films that afternoon/night. I was hooked from the opening scenes above Tatooine and I have never looked back. ...Another friendship that came as a result of Star Wars is Jeremy. That friendship has winded down some very interesting and varied paths for more than a decade, and they led to him being the Best Man at my wedding. Jeremy has been there through the rough times and the easy ones, more the former than the latter, but I hope the scales tip back very soon. ...Ken, Jacob, Dan, Abel, Joe, Steve, Steve, Jason--all awesome friendships either borne out of Star Wars or solidified by it. All people that I am most grateful and honoured to call "Friend" and with who I look forward to continuing to traverse life's paths with.

Gaming ...Many of my friendships (named and unnamed) came about from a little phenomenon called the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. And through the Star Wars CCG I learned or strengthed many skills and personal qualities e.g. leadership, honour, integrity, self-confidence, marketing, writing, networking, game design, organisation, and good sportsmanship.

Creative Success ...Many of my first breaks in the worlds of writing and gaming are a direct result of my Star Wars friendships and gaming. The most obvious is the long line of articles I contributed to Scrye Gaming Magazine that started with Star Wars (and eventually led to articles on gaming in general as well as coverage for The Lord of the Rings, Highlander, WWE card games). ...Steve DeChellis was Connecticut's first Star Wars CCG tournament director. For some reason neither of us can really pin down ;-D we became friends. This professional freindship led to us trading ideas for game designs. Out of one of those designs I created a set of sword-dueling mechanics intended for use with the Highlander franchise. Those mechanics were twice nearly bought by a gaming company (who at the last minute both times decided they didn't want to invest in the franchise). Even though that didn't work out, Steve has gone on to become successful in the arena of game design and we hope to partner for a game based on my wife's fantasy universe at some point in the (near) future. ...Abel Pena and I met after he read one of my "Letters to the Editor" for an issue of the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: X-Wing. Abel introduced me to a group known as "the Star Wars Fanboy Association". Through this group I also met Joe Corroney. Joe is a fantastic artist and with his support (and my credentials as a freelance writer writing Star Wars CCG article for Scrye) I achieved the ultimate goal in the freelance writing world: an assignment and published credit with an official Star Wars publication (Star Wars Gamer). The article was so successful that I was given a second assignment.

Star Wars has been very good to me, and continues to be so. And even with all the success and fun and friends I have made, the movies still continue to be held most special to me on a deep and personal level. For at its heart, Star Wars is a story of Good over Evil, Courage over Fear, Faith over Doubt, and Love over everything.

Happy Anniversary, STAR WARS!