Today will be a very hectic day for us. The family has to be in about a half a dozen places at once today and it will be a long time before we sleep. With two children in different schools, Parent-Faculty board meetings, Band Booster meetings, a recital, a birthday, book-fair, and an upcoming concert to help put on, well, let's just say we live in exciting times.
The day won't end for us at 9:30pm. You see this is the eve of the domestic premier of George Lucas' "Star Wars I -- The Phantom Menace." We have tickets for the 12:01 AM showing and we will be among the first wave of die-hard fans to see this movie. School night or not, midnight or not. We'll see this movie.
What was that? Did I hear someone say "get a life"? Well we've got one, four actually. But back in 1977 when the first Star Wars came out I was almost exactly the same age my son is now. The movie was AMAZING. I saw it half-a-dozen times and was thrilled with the more realistic vision of the future that Lucas presented. Seamless special effects (the best ever seen) were applied to a time-tested formula (some called it a "Western"). The result struck a chord with a generation. And now, I get to pass this along to my son and daughter.
We bought our tickets last week. The Internet servers at moviefone failed us, and we had to resort to purchasing tickets by phone or like some people I know, in line. No matter. We'll be there tonight. And tomorrow we'll be at work/school. The "life" we give our children teaches them that family always comes first, always ahead of work. Work is tolerated only for the things it provides the family. The worst day in the sun watching the Dodgers play easily surpasses the best day I could ever imagine at work. But we must work and go to school so that we can do the other things. It's a difficult balance. Live life now, love your children now. In twenty years they would not remember what the teacher said that morning. No one will remember the "report they turned-in" or the meeting that was held in conference room 5J. But my kids will remember the time I kept them up WAAAYY past bedtime on a school night to take them with me to Star Wars, and so will I!