It's a funny thing, saying the last words you will ever say to someone. Of course, you never think that they're your last words, do you? I'm not being dramatic and by saying "last words" it means that they died. It could mean that your friendship falls through in an abrupt way, you break up with your significant other, or that it's the last time you talk to someone and time passes and you forget about them.

Ever since I was about 12, I became obsessed with some of the last words said in Star Wars. I loved the Anakin and Qui-Gon relationship in The Phantom Menace and I am a firm believer that if Qui-Gon had trained Anakin like he has wished to, Anakin would not have gone to the dark side. But can anyone recall Qui-Gon's last words to Anakin? I wish it had been something dramatic, something that Anakin could have taken with him and held on to as he grew older. But the last words Qui-Gon ever says to the youngling are, "Stay in that cockpit," as he goes to battle Darth Maul. Isn't that interesting? If Qui-Gon had known he would never speak to Anakin again, would he have said that? Yet he was still thinking about Anakin's safety at that exact moment, so knowing that his last words were directed to keep this young child safe is interesting.

It's ironic how the last conversation between Obi-Wan and Anakin (before Anakin turns to the dark side) are regarding Anakin as a jedi. I like how Anakin apologizes sensing that he has "disappointed" Obi-Wan, admits that he is arrogant and unappreciative of his mentor's training. Obi-Wan then says that Anakin has become "a far greater jedi" than Obi had ever hoped to be. And when they say goodbye with the standard "May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan calls Anakin an "old friend." It's touching. I always watch that scene and feel pity for Obi that he has no idea how much his old friend will change. I want to scream at him and say, "This is the last time you will see him like this!" I had an abrupt falling out with a friend almost a year ago, and whenever I watch this scene I think of her. We probably left on great terms, like Obi and Anakin, and then the end of our friendship culminated in harsh words and hurt feelings on both sides, probably like the Mustafar confrontation (though no one burned up).

Besides these casual last words to each other, Star Wars is also full of the dramatic liners...the ones where they know it is the last thing they will ever say to the person. Like when Obi-Wan says his FINAL last words to Darth Vader, "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." Whoa baby. How right was he? And what about when Han goes into carbonite and Leia finally admits that she loves him? His last words to her are "I know." Ha. Anakin's words to Luke as he died were, "Tell your sister you were right." There is so much meaning behind all those words.

As I think back on my life so far, I realize that it is full of last words to people. Not only my friend who I had a falling out with but just millions of people whom I will never see again. I've had friends who fade, people who have died, break ups...there are times when I wish I could go back and change what I said or wish I had paid attention to what I had said if I had known I would never talk to them again. But maybe our lives are kind of like movies in that way: as much as I wish Qui-Gon had not said "Stay in that cockpit" as his last words to Anakin, I can't change that. We can't change what we have said any more than they can.