(SPOILERS GALORE!)

Yesterday Bill and I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I almost called it “the new Star Wars movie”, but realize that we are among the last to see it in the movie theater so it clearly isn’t “new” to most folks. We weren’t alone, however. There were actually quite a few others, mostly senior citizens. But I’ll bet we were the only ones who got in free because Bill got free tickets from his oral surgeon!

I had carefully avoided reading anything about this most recent episode because I wanted to be surprised. I had heard about Han’s demise, however. My brother believes there is wiggle room to bring Han back in further episodes. I disagree. He was pierced all the way through with a light saber and plummeted hundreds of feet into some abyss. I think it’s bye-bye Han, sad as that made me (and Chewie).

For the record, I haven’t seen the three most recently-made Star War movies. I only saw the original three — Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983). Court was born in 1980. The Star Wars trilogy was a big part of our lives. He and I watched the movies something like 1,500 times. He had all of the character figurines. He had a toy millennium falcon. He had plastic light sabers. He had X fighters and H fighters and every sort of vehicle imaginable. He LOVED those movies, and frankly, so did I.

So at the beginning of this movie, when the music started, and I saw the narration scrolling across the screen just as it had in those original three movies (and possibly all of them, but see above. I only saw the three originals), I smiled. It made me happy. And I’m not ashamed to tell you (and I swear this is the truth), I teared up when I saw the millennium falcon (though I must admit I can’t quite understand why it took Han and Chewie so many years to find it).

Now I just have one question: If I want to watch ALL of the Star Wars movies, do I watch IV, V, and VI first, and then I, II, and III, or do I watch them in order I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and now VII?

Jessie? Anyone? Anyone?

Have a great weekend.