Friday, June 24, 2011

C3PO and Han Solo

Jim and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary by going downtown to see U2 in concert. We decided since it was a special occasion we would get good tickets and be on the floor of the stadium. It was a blast and the sound was fantastic. As we drove back home after midnight we were both tired and chatting as we dealt with crazy concert traffic. I think after a long day we no longer held some of our less appealing traits in check. As we got closer to home traffic loosened up and as we approached our exit Jim moved to the center lane and accelerated, passing cars. I questioned him as to why he was driving aggressively. He then cut back over to get off the beltway and said to me "You are C-3PO, to my Han Solo". We laughed. Yup, that is us.

16 years of a strange but fruitful relationship, summed up by Star Wars. Like Han, Jim is a little rough on the edges and sometimes harsh with his words but skilled and warmhearted underneath. Like C-3PO, Diplomacy and service are more my calling, as it is programmed with protocol droids, But irritating, too talkative, and frequently not getting the joke. I definitely am not Chewbacca, since I frequently would rather avoid a battle. This means I don't always have his back like I should.  And I am not the powerful, frustrated Princess Leia either.




Han and C-3PO get through a lot of scrapes together sometimes in spite of themselves. They both add important skills to the struggles they face and really they do like each other, but day to day they can cause each other a lot of aggravation. Maybe it isn't the "best" relationship in film but it is successful and I will happily continue to be the C-3PO to his Han Solo.

2 comments:

  1. Dad read this first and said the title was about your relationship. But he did not have to tell me who was which character. (Got out of remembering if it should be who or whom very nicely, I think.)
    I think it is a great gift to be able to see your relationship in something concrete, even though it's movie characters. I think it was Marriage Encounter that said to use picture words when communicating--you definitely have picture words. Definitely.
    Love each of you and the together you make. Mom

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  2. Great analogy. Have you thought about submitting some of your writing to a magazine?

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