My mom died a week ago. So, as you can imagine, this Mother’s Day is a bit rough for me and my family, but I wanted to take this opportunity to remember her, and to share that I had a very special mom. One who always encouraged me to be unique and to follow my passions, wherever they may lead.
Back in the days before social media, when I was an awkward teenager who kept her “Star Wars” obsession a secret, my only outlet for geekdom was the weekly Wednesday trip to our local comic book shop. My brother and I were too young to drive, so Mom took us each week and usually sat out in the car while we waited for our boxes to be pulled. Mine always included something related to Yoda or Sailor Moon. One day, the guys at the shop handed me a flyer and said I needed to go to something called Dragon Con. “Star Wars” actors will be there, they said.
What?! This piqued my interest. I glanced at the flyer and saw Anthony Daniels and David Prowse listed, as well as all the “Star Wars” authors with published books up to that point. I had to go. I begged and pleaded, and it took some work. Mom hated going into Atlanta, but she relented and off we went into the hot summer, armed with my “Star Wars” script and books for autographs.
I had no idea what to expect, but the opportunity to meet See-Threepio and Darth Vader thrilled me to no end. If you attend Dragon Con these days, you should know that back then it was much much smaller. And if cosplay was a word I certainly didn’t know it. Those dressed in costumes were few and far between. I proudly wore a Yoda t-shirt to the con, which was as close as I got to any sort of costuming.
Mom mostly stayed in the lobby and watched people while I sat in on a multitude of Star Wars panels, and after each one I’d find her and excitedly tell her what I had learned. Or I showed off my autographs after standing in line for two hours. She oohed and ahhed, and because she actually listened to me and paid attention, she knew who the actors were. She wasn’t a geek, but she knew more about “Star Wars” than most people. She knew that when I said, “It’s a trap!” I was talking about Admiral Ackbar. Once, after a panel, she’s the one that excitedly came up to me to show me that author Timothy Zahn had signed her program book. She’d recognized him from his picture as she sat in the lobby waiting on us.
And she also shared a story of how she met a young man who called himself a Highlander. She had no idea what a Highlander was, but she said they chatted for a bit about his costume and his sword. Mom always liked to talk to people. It made trips to the grocery store interminably long if she ran into someone she knew, but it’s also how she picked up a lot of information. Don’t underestimate the use of gossip learned at the grocery store.
So, my mom took me not only to my very first Dragon Con, but she booked a hotel room for the second one, which spoiled me forever. Now I always stay in a host hotel. She stayed in the room and stocked it with food while my brother and I wandered about and pursued our own interests. And after that year we were old enough to go it alone, though the routine each year, from high school until last year, was I would call her once I had safely checked in. And then I would call anytime I had exciting news to share. Mom! I just met Sean Patrick Flanery! Mom! I just won Star Wars trivia. Again! She always was so excited, knowing I was having fun and doing all those weird things that I enjoyed so much. And she never judged me for it. She just supported me. When I attended FanX last month in Salt Lake City, she had so much fun looking at my Yoda travel photos and “liked” everything I shared on Facebook.
She endured multiple viewings of the Ewok movies when I was a kid, never realizing that the galaxy far far away would retain its hold over me even as an adult.
So this is for you, Mom. For all the trips to the comic shop, for taking me to Dragon Con, for all the times I sang the Ewok Celebration song, for contributing so much to my Yoda collection, and for all the thousand little ways you supported my passions.
May the Force be with you.