Mother's Day: My Mom loves Jar Jar Binks
05/12/2013
...there, I said it. Out loud. Sometimes it's just better to come clean, right? Whew! That was a load off my mind. I mean, if you ask most people who their favorite Star Wars character is, Jar Jar Binks is the last answer you would expect. I mean, I'm one of those people who always root for the good guys and my top ten Star Wars characters will not include one from the dark side just on sheer principle. Still, I'd have to rate Palpatine over Binks.
So admitting my mother's taste in characters is not easy, but I've done it to prove a point. While my mother has no trouble speaking and does not trip over her face, she does share Binks' eternal optimism. And while we might find that trait annoying in Binks ... I mean, even when he screams about thinking he's going to die, he sounds rather cheerful ... you need that sort of optimism in your mom. Maybe it's naive sometimes ("Nope, Mom. My brother and I absolutely did NOT have a party at the house while you and Dad were in England") ... still, eternal optimism is great when life starts falling down around you. And the past year and half has been a doozy for that sort of thing. Still, to hear my mom talk about it, you would think the many blows my extended family has taken is just a temporary setback. She can see happy endings for a variety of ill-fated scenarios. Is it rose-colored glasses? Jar Jar Binks naivete? Or simply that she's a "catch you when you're falling" angel in mom form? Sometimes it doesn't matter that you're probably not going to draw massive crowds as the next JK Rowling, that your husband being laid off is not going to make his former employers regret their decision and suffer without him, that you don't believe every person who ever pissed you off is going to "get theirs" eventually. Sometimes it's just enough to know someone cares enough to believe those things for you.
So we all keep my mom despite her love of Jar Jar. After all, everyone needs a mother's love (and clearly Jar Jar's didn't give him the time of day.) So even though I get to share mine with that insipid doddering creature, I have to remember that adage about nothing being greater than a mother's love. So if my mom can love something like Binks, just how incredibly great is her love? My mom is one special lady. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!