He was immediately drawn to the cup on my counter that holds pens. It is a Star Wars cup with pictures of characters from all the movies. He told me he knew Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker...and he loved Darth Maul even though he was a bad guy...and Boba Fett was really cool and Obi-Wan Kenobi...
He loved that cup.
We chatted about the movies as I helped his mom with her banking. I learned that he watched the movies daily and wore Jedi t-shirts almost every day and had a Star Wars themed birthday party. I told him about all the toys I had and all the times I've seen the movies and about the giant posters in my basement. He was very excited to talk with someone that seemed to love Star Wars as much as he did.
But then the banking was done, and the mom took him by the hand and led him out of the bank...still chattering away about characters and space ships and the power of the force.
And that was the end of that....or so I thought.
Last week I was working in the drive-thru lanes at the bank. A women I did not recognize pulled up and sent in her deposit. When she saw me, she got a huge smile and said, "I'm the mom of the Star Wars fan." To be honest, I would not have remembered her if she had not told me...I had not thought much about that day since last summer. She continued, "He will be so sad that he missed you. Every time we drive by the bank, he points and gets excited and tells me 'That's where that man works...the one who likes Star Wars!' He always asks when we're coming back."
I'm not sure why, but I can't stop thinking about this. An encounter that I had forgotten about, was apparently very important to that little guy. How many times has something similar happened....for good or for bad. We have a seemingly small meaningless conversation with a stranger and move on. But they remember.
There could be much worse things to be remembered for than loving Star Wars.
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