Last year my wife had tears in her eyes as she watched The Mandalorian season one finale with me.
We just found out we had a miscarriage.
We’d been trying to have a baby for a while, and the heartbreak of losing what we expected to be our first child was especially hard on my wife.
She was never a Star Wars fan, but she seemed to get a profound sense of comfort on a weekly basis watching “Baby Yoda” appear on our TV screen.
She grew attached to the little guy. He seemed to fill part of the hole our unborn child left in my wife’s heart.
All she wanted for Christmas was to hold her own Baby Yoda.
But Disney had not created any merchandise for The Child. So I had to get scrappy.
I eventually found a friend of a friend who owned a 3D printer who agreed to help me create a model of the little guy.
When I presented it to my wife, she was stunned.
She understood what that little statue of The Child represented.
He became the first piece of the Baby Yoda shrine we’ve established in our living room.
Fast forward one year.
We’re watching The Mandalorian season two finale.
But this time, I’m the one crying.
Watching the battered X-wing fly onto the screen, the green lightsaber ignite in the gloved hand of the hooded figure…
Watching Din (Mando) remove his helmet, look into the eyes of baby Grogu, and be touched on the face for the first time in his life.
The finale definitely got my emotions going.
But what sent me over the edge was the wiggly little baby that was sitting on my lap, watching the show with us.
That’s right, now we are a clan of 3.
I wanted to name her “Amanda Lorien” (A Mandalorian), but my wife squashed that idea.
Her reason?
“I’ve known too many Amandas that I’m not a fan of.”
But really, I know she just didn’t want to be that mom who named her kid after a Star Wars character.
Fair enough.
I’ve been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember. But I never thought Star Wars would become a healing balm in a time of profound pain for my family.
I’m very grateful for the creators of the show who brought this story, and these characters to life. It gave us a new hope (pun intended).
For those of you who might be having a difficult holiday season this year (like ours was last year), please hang in there. Continue the journey. Things get better in the next chapter, I promise.
This is the way.