May The Fourth Be With You

Happy Star Wars Day everyone! I hope you are celebrating by wearing Star Wars clothes/eating Star Wars food/watching Star Wars movies, etc... I am planning on doing all of the above.

I have loved Star Wars for as long as I can remember. I was a 9 year old boy totally freaked out by the torched bodies of Uncle Ben and Aunt Beru in A New Hope. I would play Star Wars trivial pursuit with my friends, and we all knew so much about Star Wars that we required word perfect answers to the questions (I remember getting a question wrong because I answered "a asteroid" instead of "an asteroid"). I collected all form of Star Wars paraphernalia and remember saving Taco Bell cups because they had Star Wars characters on them (yes, I was a bit odd). As a teenager I dressed up as a Jedi with my friends and attended midnight openings of Episodes I-III. I attended midnight openings of Episode VII and Rogue One (though sadly not Episode VIII, it was sold out, and I had to wait a bit to see it). I own all of the movies except for Episode VIII, which I believe is in the mail for me. Star Wars was important to me growing up. I loved it. I still do.

As a dad I have now had the opportunity to indoctrinate introduce Star Wars into my kids' lives. Mallory, at first wasn't too interested, but boy did Zachary latch on early, which in turn brought both of his sisters around. I had Star Wars onesies for him as a baby. He has had Star Wars stuffed animals on his bed his entire life. We have Star Wars games and read Star Wars books. A few years ago I started watching the animated Clone Wars with the kids. I figured that was a good introduction since I didn't think they were quite ready for the movies yet. Then, about a year and a half ago, we started watching the movies, in episodic order, beginning with Episode I. Lots of people said that was dumb, and I shouldn't even show them Episode I-III because of how bad they are, but I contend that:

1. They aren't as terrible as everyone makes them out to be. They aren't as good as the other movies, but they aren't that bad. 
2. They establish the background, vital elements to the story that the kids will understand and know and appreciate more by watching the movies than by me giving them a quick explanation.  

So we watched them all. Episode I, II, III, Rogue One (III.V as we call it), IV, V, VI and tonight we will watch VII, which only leaves VIII, at least until May 25 when Solo comes out. It's been a blast watching these with my family, introducing my kids, and wife, to these stories that I grew up with, to see them become something that is important and a source of joy for them, to have Star Wars birthday parties and see my kids participate in Jedi Training at Disneyland, and to just hear them talk constantly about the different characters and lightsabers and villains and plot lines, etc... 

Star Wars is not the be-all and end-all of the world, but it was a big part of my life, and now a big part of my kids' lives and I'm happy to have passed that down. What are you passing down to your kids or, if you don't have kids, to those you mentor, who look to you in some way. Sometimes we pass down deep valuable life lessons, sometimes we pass down "May the Fourth be With You" both can be impactful in their own ways.


Part 2: The Force

* May The Fourth Be With You GIF: By Ігор Пєтков - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57889719