For Katie

Nov. 20th, 2010 12:40 pm
valarltd: (rocks)
[personal profile] valarltd
Katie is a little girl who is being bullied about carrying a Star Wars waterbottle by boys who say girls can't like Star Wars.

This is for her.

Katie, honey, the more things change the more they stay the exact same.

I'm a mama now, with four kids of my own.
But when I was nine, Star Wars changed my whole world. For a single summer, everyone, boys and girls, wore Star Wars t-shirts, saw the movies and played it in backyards all over the country.

Then, it faded. The girls went off to do other things and Star Wars got lumped in with GI Joe as a "boy thing." But I didn't care. I was still in love. I subscribed to the comic book. I read all of the novels as they arrived on the bookshelves. All five of them, then.

I got teased clear through school. Because I never fell out of love. Never. (and I later learned those who teased me had written THEIR share of fan letters and owned their share of autographed photos from those letters)

Why?
Because Star Wars changed my life. I'm not sure I can tell you all the ways it has.

It shaped my understanding of faith and religion. I tried to avoid that when I was still a Christian, but when I left the faith, the idea of the Force was there, the great life-energy field that creates and is created by the entire universe. This is called Pantheism, Katie, and it's what I believe now.

It influenced what I do for a living. I wanted to be Han Solo all my life. Han is a truck driver in space. I went to college, had a lot of jobs and now I drive a truck. The first truck I ever drove was for Falcon and I put Star Wars sheets on the bunk in my sleeper. I wrote "Chewbacca is my co-pilot" in the dust on my trailer doors. My family offered to get me a life-size stuffed wookiee so it wouldn't look as if I was driving alone.

Me, and the Falcon
Photobucket

I'm married to a handsome blond man and when he calls me on my cell-phone, it rings in with Luke Skywalker's theme. On this journal, I call my oldest son "Obi" which is short for Obi-Wan Chrisobi, his nickname when I started writing here.

I write romance novels and I met my writing partner in an on-line role playing game. I was playing Han Solo. We've written six novels and dozens of short stories together.

Katie, never let anyone tell you that girls can't like something or can't do something. Only 1 truck driver in 10 is a woman. I love driving my truck. A lot of men don't think women should drive. They're silly and limited by their thoughts, like the boys who tell you that you can't like Star Wars.

The Force is with you, sweetheart. Always.

Date: 2010-11-20 08:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] m-barnette.livejournal.com
Brava! This is a terrific post.

Date: 2010-11-20 11:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nebris.livejournal.com
xoxox
~M~

Date: 2010-11-21 07:33 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Bravo! I am a girl who grew up loving Star Wars and I love it still. Katie, many women and girls share your love of Star Wars. Because Star Wars is awesome!

Date: 2010-11-22 06:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cinnastyx.livejournal.com
'Star Wars' is amazing and if you like it, it's not anyone's place to tell you you can't or shouldn't just because of your gender. Never ever ever let someone tell you that you can't do something because you're a girl. We can do pretty much anything we set our minds to. Girls have changed the world.

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