Star Wars Day: Star Wars Memories, May the Fourth Be With You

aNewDomain.net — We all know that a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away an epic story began. Star Wars was always ahead of its time and paved the way for great film tech and storytelling. It is so near and dear to my heart. I’d like to share a few memories I have regarding the life cycle of Star Wars and how it intersected with my life. Here are my Star Wars memories.

Grab your popcorn and beverage of choice and enjoy your Star Wars memories, too. And May the Fourth be with you!

Image credit: Star Wars

The first Star Wars came out released in May 1977. I was two-months-old at the time. Okay, so my first memory didn’t come from A New Hope. It came from The Empire Strikes Back, released in 1980. I didn’t see the movie until 1981 when I was four.  Today I can barely remember what happened two hours ago, but I clearly remember this experience at age four.  My father raved about taking us to see it. I remember it was a Saturday afternoon in spring.  It was bright and sunny  in Anderson, South Carolina. The theater was the now-closed Osteen Theater. As we get into the theater, my father continued his spiel while we amassed popcorn and other goodies.  I can remember my sister looking at him with a blank stare.  She truly did not care.  I found it interesting that my father was so into this film because his personality was that of a jock. All I ever saw him watch was sports, thrillers and westerns. But he was totally geeked about Star Wars.

The movie began and I was truly amazed. The powerful and majestic theme by the London Symphonic Orchestra playing during the opening credits captivated me. Then spaceships flash across the big screen. They blew me away.  All I could think of was “I want a spaceship, too.”  The movie was great.  To this day, it is still my favorite of the saga.  I remember begging my father to find a TIE Fighter or Millennium Falcon for me.  He said he would but I never got them.  I did get some action figures later that I now wish I never opened.  Fail.

As I grew up, I began looking forward to the next Star Wars chapter. Return of the Jedi was slated next. My father grabbed my sister and me to the Osteen. “I can’t wait to see Jabba!” said my father. I had no idea who or what a Jabba was. To my delight, Jabba was a slob who took up the whole screen with his girth.  I laughed at how funny he looked as did all of the other characters there on planet Tatooine.  Notably, the  Ewoks were introduced also.  To this day, I still don’t know how my father or anyone knew they were called Ewoks.  This name never comes up in the movie, I know.  The movie was yet another great experience for me  to be with my father watching things go fast and blow up!

I’m now an adult . . . well, supposedly. . .and I still carry my passion for Star Wars.  The prequel movies were released and I went to see them all.  I took time off from work for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I remember submitting my time off request for Revenge of the Sith to my superior at work.  I put in the request as soon as I saw the release date online.  “Anthony, your date is wrong on this form. This is a over a year from now.”  My manager clearly thought my form had the wrong date. I assured her it was correct because I wanted to see the final Star Wars.

When the DVD for the original trilogy was released, guess who was first in line to buy it at midnight?  My kids saw my passion for Star Wars and became interested, too. My 14-year-old son was hooked at age three.  He’s still very much into it.  My other two children, they’re 9 and 6, are into it, too. Whenever we play a disk, everyone stops what they’re doing to watch it.  I truly love our Episode One through Six Star Wars marathon Saturdays.  We spend time watching the movie extras and discussing how computers are used to generate the images today. This piqued our interest because it let  us see just how powerful a computer can be.  All it takes is hard work and creativity. Here are two of my affectionately nicknamed “hardheadz” back in 2007 for Halloween.

Image credit: Ant Pruitt

My hardheadz are older now, but they still beg me each weekend to buy them something Star Wars-related.  It feels like they’re building their own memories for the years to come. Do you have any happy Star Wars memories to share? Leave us a comment below or share with your favorite Star Wars friend.

I’m Ant Pruitt for aNewDomain.net.