To the Stars

Thought provoking music. "Saturn" by Sleeping At Last

I was reading the second chapter of The Princess Diarist on the snowy morning of Dec. 23, 2016, while I waited in the car in a machinery lot for my husband.  In the book, Carrie Fisher was discussing hairstyle options for her iconic role as Princess Leia.  I had been looking forward to reading the book ever since I had heard about it over a year ago.  What fangirl wouldn't enjoy reading Carrie's journals she wrote while filming A New Hope?  I was jolted out of reading when my husband came back to the car and we started a slow track in the snow to town.  As we progressed, the snow flakes became bigger and the travel more hazardous.  I remember thinking, "I really don't want to die on my birthday!"  We finally made it to town, where we stopped for lunch and Christmas shopping.  My husband assured me that if we took our time, the snow would end and the roads would be better on the way home.  Sure enough, by the time we left the restaurant the weather had improved.  When we finished shopping, the snow had completely stopped and the roads were clear.  When we got home, I checked my Facebook news feed for birthday posts, when I discovered a post about Carrie Fisher suffering a massive heart attack on a plane earlier that day.  I remember thinking, "But, it's my birthday..."

I know these days people can be very sensitive about the attention celebrities receive when they pass away, stating statistics of how many public and armed services figures died in the past year.  I am exceedingly grateful for our real life heroes but--to be honest--they are complete strangers to me.  They have unfamiliar faces.  I don't know a thing about them.  I will ask this question...how many of them were a part of one of your first memories?  Anyone?  Maybe if they were a neighbor or a close relative.  Sure, I have foggy memories of being in the crib because that was before toddler beds.  But my first clear memory was going to A New Hope at the drive-in theater with my family.  My older brother and oldest sister sat in the front with my dad.  My mom sat in the back with my older sister and myself.  Sadly, the only part of the movie I remember was a scene of Luke and Leia talking.  I cannot pick the scene out today, as our memories change over time with the dialog and the background fading away.  (I remember Chewie's son Lumpy from the holiday special walking across a big structure similar to Titan's kingdom in The Little Mermaid.  It turned out to be a railing on a primitive tree hut with a painted background!  My, have my memories become distorted with time!)  Part of the reason I don't remember much of Episode IV was because I fell asleep across the backseat.  No stones, please.  I was preschool age and it was way past my bedtime. I slept fairly sound until my sister sat on my head!  That is a topic of discussion that continues to this day and we still laugh about it.

I thought Carrie was going to make it.  I truly did.  Maybe she had found peace by going public with her long ago affair with her co-star?  They had such phenomenal chemistry that many of us fans were not surprised when we found out.  I actually wasn't feeling that chemistry in the last movie and I wondered why.  Now I know.  I was shocked to hear of Carrie's mother passed the following day.  Not the fact that her mother possibly died of a broken heart, but the irony that Princess Leia's mom died of the same thing.  It's like George Lucas had a little bit of the Force himself when he wrote it.

Girl Power started with Princess Leia.  She was my inspiration for Hope.  I wanted a strong female protagonist and I gave her these characteristics: a petite brunette with brown eyes and an inner strength that made her very powerful.  Thank you for paving the way, Carrie.  Godspeed.  I hope you've found peace.

Veronica