In honor of the Star Wars Celebration Orlando convention currently happening, here is a post Phillip wrote with thoughts inspired by Star Wars Celebration Anaheim in 2015. –S
“Chewie, weʼre home.”
With those lines, from the world premiere of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer at the Star Wars Celebration Anaheim convention, grown men around me were in tears.
I might have gotten a little emotional too. It had been 30 long years since we last saw the Millennium Falcon on the big screen and our two favorite pilots at the helm.
Almost that long ago, in the mid-eighties, I remember being a seven-year-old kid, driving through the streets of Phoenix with my Uncle David. I grilled him about the future of the Star Wars and hung on to every morsel of news he passed on to me.
What makes these movies particularly powerful is the shared memories they create, especially across generations.
Iʼm not exactly sure when it was when I saw Star Wars (A New Hope) for the first time. I always remember it being a part of my life.
“Through the force, things you will see.
Other places. The future… the past.
Old friends long gone.”
–Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back
For me, getting together at my grandparents’ house along with my aunts, uncles, and cousins meant a chance to watch Star Wars on Uncle David’s Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) player! I look back on those times now with fond memories.
Both of my grandparents have been gone for decades now. Yet when I watch any of the original trilogy movies, the memory of my family and my grandparentsʼ home is forever intertwined in the story of “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”
As I got older, I carried on the tradition with my oldest nephew, introducing him to LEGO Star Wars. Cameron and I sat around putting together spaceships for hours. While he is older now, I still cherish the memories of his youthful enthusiasm when I showed him a new set.
As we watched the trailer for The Force Awakens at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, everyone there had their own memories to bring to that moment. Memories of how Star Wars connected them to people and events in their own lives. For two minutes, the sights and sounds of a galaxy far, far away brought us a little closer to our own memories of long ago.
They also reminded us to be mindful of the present: the good times are not just in the past.
