I’m sure like the product of many men from his generation “Star Wars” made an indelible mark on David’s young psyche when he saw it in the theater. A mark that he has carried with him into adulthood. Since the first pregnancy test came back positive he has not stopped talking about what it will be like to watch “Star Wars” with the kids for the first time. And although he planned on waiting until the kids were in 3rd grade other influences have stepped in to make this no longer a possibility. Namely, Lucy’s cousins. See, Lucy’s cousins are older than her and they play the video game and they talk about it and now suddenly at 4 Lucy knows ALL about Star Wars without ever having seen it. She talks knowledgeably about Jawas and Luke and Leah and the Eewoks and yet she’s never seen the film.

David woke up Saturday morning and asked Lucy is she would like to watch “Star Wars” and she squealed in delight, ran around in a circle, and shot orange soda out her nose. (okay, the last part was a lie, but you get the idea). I can’t tell you if she liked it because most of the time she was busy asking questions; “Where is Dark Vader?”, “Who are those guys in black?”, “Are the Jawas bad guys?”, “Why does his land speeder fly like that?”, “Why are there two suns?”, “Why does that snake have one eye?” etc. Max would periodically point to the screen and declare “Bad Guy” or “Good Guy”.

She woke up Sunday and begged and pleaded to watch “Empire Strikes Back” and when she saw Yoda it was like finding an old friend. She was surprised to find out that Luke didn’t realize who Yoda was and innocently asked “What is an Empire”. David gently and patiently explained all the characters and made matter of fact comments like “That is a planet called Tatooine. It is a desert planet.” His explanations were so succinct, so factual and so full of confidence that it wouldn’t surprise me if Lucy thought the story was real. In truth, it probably holds the same level of validity as the story of Noah or the Princess and the Pea. At one point he leaned over and whispered into Lucy’s ear “I know a secret. Darth Vader was actually a good guy once”. And so the legacy continues.