GOODBYE, SASSY PRINCESS

Carrie Fisher was my first princess.  I was 8 years old when Star Wars: A New Hope arrived on the scene and it changed the world forever.

Princess Leia was no ordinary princess, at least not the ones I’d seen up to that point. She was smart, sassy, and in charge.  She didn’t wait for a prince or hero to save her, she grabbed a gun and shot her enemy and fought her threats herself.

Three movies and an entire space mythos later, Princess Leia was firmly entrenched as one of my role models. Pink, fluffy-haired, prissy, weak damsel in distress princesses would never, ever measure up.

I was thrilled to see Princess Leia return to Star Wars decades after Princess Leia helped save the galaxy and ride off into the galactic sunset.  She had aged, yes, but she was still in charge.  Now a general, always royal, guiding fragments of humanity to overcome the throngs of evil that will always rise and fall.

The eighth installment of the Star Wars saga finished filming this summer. Again, Princess/General Leia figures to figure prominently in the galaxy far, far away.  Unfortunately, her story will end.

Carrie Fisher, the talented, gritty portrayer of Princess Leia, is gone.  She left us this morning, after suffering a heart attack Christmas Eve.  She was only 60 years old. Earlier this week, we lost George Michael at only 53 years old. All year long the list of celebrities and the well-known who have left us has been long – young, old, talented, not so talented, smart, sciencey, larger than life, angelic, humanitarian, mercurial.

And now the list has my Princess.  I’m saddened to know her story has ended in life and on screen, and the world mourns with me.