Life Changing Moments

So during these past two months of radio silence, in addition to painting my nails a wide variety of occasionally questionable colors, I also got to introduce my young and impressionable children to the greatest of all great films...the Mt. Everest of movies, the epitome of entertainment, the dark chocolate of the dessert world...that's right folks, my kids have now seen Star Wars. And not just the original Star Wars, but the entire series (with the exception of a few parentally edited moments in Episode III). Can I get a woot, woot from my fellow Star Wars fans? After you finish chiding me for allowing my daughter to go 8 whole years without seeing the wonder that is Star Wars, of course.

See, we had a rainy week and Major Dad was gone and I was desperate for a distraction. When it suddenly dawned on me...aha! Star Wars. And sure enough, these kids must be genetically related to me because they were both hooked after the first scrolling words drifted across the screen. So we spent an entire weekend sitting in a darkened living room, living on popcorn (with movie theatre butter of course) indulging in a Star Wars marathon. So much fun! But here's the best part...

Picture this...Ella and Jack sitting spellbound watching The Empire Strikes Back, a bowl of popcorn between them, light sabers flashing as Luke bravely battles the evil Darth Vader when suddenly Vader says in that haunting James Earl Jones voice, "I am your father."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" That was Ella squealing at the top of her lungs. "No way! Mommy, Mommy, MOMMMMMMMMMMYYYYY! Did you hear that?"

I of course was laughing like a fool. That was my favorite part of the movie, just watching Ella's reaction to the big news. And it cracked me up, it was like watching someone's entire world view change. Like that one bit of iconic information, that one massive movie twist totally changed her perspective on life.

Now, I started typing and then deleted several sentences on the deep meaning behind these life changing moments, about their rarity, about the way we receive them, or not, and what we choose to do with them, about how easy it is to let them slip away or how we can relegate them to a youthful memory and forget the brief moment of passion and clarity we suddenly felt. But I think I'll just leave it there.

And I could go on and on about the philosophical subtext of Star Wars, but I won't. I will add that my second favorite part of our Star Wars marathon was when my kids decided that of all the characters, I'm Yoda. Hummm, happy am I.