I will be the first to admit that growing up I was not a Star Wars fan. Despite writing a paper in the 10th grade (1995-ish) on the classic hero journey of Luke Skywalker, I didn’t watch any of the movies until 2007. Yes, I knew the main characters and the storyline, but I had no real drive to watch.

Don’t get me wrong, I love SciFi. I’ve seen almost every Star Trek episode, Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who. I know every episode of Firefly by heart, and can recite every line of Serenity.

I was “forced” (ha) by a guy I was dating to actually sit and watch A New Hope. Now, this guy was a Han fanboy. Han Solo could do no wrong. (After we broke up, he got a cat who was called Han.) I actually wanted to sit and take in the Lucas masterpiece, to soak it in for the very first time, but could not enjoy it at all with Fanboy blabbering through the ENTIRE movie. When it was over he stared at me with wide eyes, waiting with baited breath for my reaction to the film. I mustered a “meh”. I wanted to say that I would have enjoyed it more if he would have just let me watch the movie!! I asked him to leave the movies with me (he had a box set, of course) and I would try again another time. And by another time, I meant as soon as he left.

Not five minutes after he walked out the door, I had queued the movie back to the beginning. I watched A New Hope, quickly followed by The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The next day after classes, I watched A New Hope again with Zakary.

I enjoyed the films. I didn’t want to tell Fanboy how much I loved them. But I did.

That relationship with Fanboy didn’t work out, which is for the best, but my relationship with Star Wars has just deepened. I now have an amazing man in my life, who enjoys Star Wars in a much healthier way, and a quartet of boys who will indulge their parents in an occasional binge marathon.

I planned on making a cake to celebrate Star Wars day on May 4th. Nothing fancy, just a cake with a couple of lightsabers made with some sparkle sugar on top. But Andrew, our 4-year-old nerdling, wanted a Darth Vader cake, because Darth Vader is his favorite.

I decided to make a Yoda cake to represent the Jedi.

I let everyone choose a side (cake). According to which cake was chosen, we tend to a Dark Side kinda family. Take from that what you will.