Come to the Heart Side
U R2 awesome, Valentine!
Full disclosure: I don’t actually like Star Wars that much, but when I was writing A Night to Remember, my kids were deep into it, so I took all their love for a galaxy far, far away and gave it to Kayla. (They are still deep into it, actually: Kid #2 is currently spending her snow day making a TIE fighter-shaped* Valentine’s box.) And in my quest to help Gabe find the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for her, I went on a deep dive into the world of Star Wars-themed romance. Does your beloved want a poster showing Han and Leia sort of declaring their love for each other? A mug telling them that “Yoda one for me”? Or, my personal favorite, a shadowbox with a Darth Vader Lego minifigure enjoining them to “Come to the Heart Side”? It might be too late to make it happen this year, but next year will be here before you know it!
The truth is, Valentine’s Day was much more exciting when I was younger. I always wondered if some handsome admirer would come out of the woodwork to surprise me with a dozen roses and, I don’t know, the Cardigans blasting on a boombox. Nowadays, I’m more likely to spend the holiday despairing over all the candy and plastic and squishy animals that come pouring out of my kids’ backpacks. But however you choose to celebrate, Yoda and I both hope that a happy Valentine’s Day you will have!
* These are the bad guys’ spaceships, which look a little like spools of thread lying on their sides. Who knew?
Fun Fact of the Month
I recently learned that the word “muscle” comes from the Latin word “musculus”, meaning “little mouse”. According to Classic Human Anatomy: “Apparently, anatomists of ancient times thought that the shape of a muscle rippling beneath the skin during movement looked like a little mouse moving under a piece of cloth.” Eeek! I dare you not to think about that when you meet your next muscly book boyfriend!
