Mother and Daughter Reunion

My family traveled a good bit when I was young, a lot of it in connection with National Science/Math Teacher Scholarships that my father would get to study over the summer at different universities. Often, the thing that would hold most firmly in my memory, as was true of many trips, was the movies I got to see.  The summer my father attended computer classes at Stanford University in California, I remember going to Palo Alto and seeing movies with my mother.

One movie towered above the others.  One movie stuck in my mind as a movie marvel.  It was seeing Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  She played a strong and feisty woman, determined not to be held down by class or sexism.  She was funny and bright and strong, and not even the sinking of the Titanic could get her down.

Years later, another movie would have me waiting in line for hours, wanting to be one of the first ones to see a phenomena that had slowly rolled out from other cities, something that had finally come to Saginaw.

In a packed theater, I saw the greatest movie magic of my life.  I saw the movie I had waited my whole life to see.  By the time they got to the Cantina scene, I was almost weeping form happiness. Yes, there was the Jedi knight and the evil Darth Vader.  There was the scruffy nerf-herder, the adventurous scoundrel.  But most importantly there was the sassy, defiant, courageous Princess, whose intelligence, drive, and maturity made her the leader of the two "boys" she was with.  Like many young fellas of my generation, I fell a bit in love with Princess Leia of Star Wars.

But she was not the first strong female I had seen at the movies.  That honor went to her mother. They taught this romantic fool that women were not damsels in distress, waiting for rescue.  They were intelligent, dynamic partners, and shining lights of their own right.

Debbie and Carrie, mother and daughter, both had incredible careers beyond the two roles that captured my heart, mind and soul.  They were varied and talented entertainers.  Debbie was an incredible dancer and bright spirit.  Carries was a brilliant writer, witty and poignant, and willing to bare her soul.

And now they are both on a different plane, reunited in their primary roles, mother and daughter.

I will miss them.

I will not forget them.