May the Force be with all of you...one last time.

As I check my watch right now, it is 11:03 p.m. on Wednesday evening, May 25. Precisely one week ago around this very time, I was about to throw down with an extremely large, extremely pissed off black man over a seat in a theatre that holds around 1,300 people. A seat that I had waited in line for almost 10 days. No...scratch that...six years and ten days. Six years, and ten days with a group of men that I would honestly say I would do anything for. When this whole thing started back in 1999, we were clueless, and we made it up as we went. In 2002, we came out on fire, and prepared. In 2005 for some reason we were there, we were prepared, but we all felt it...something was lacking. But in a matter of minutes it was back again. As I stood there, toe-to-toe with this man, ready to get my @$$ kicked over a theatre seat, you guys were there. I didn't know it at the time, but after it was all over, there was Ryan, across the aisle, nodding his head in approval. Next to me was Scott, fists clenched, and ready for anything. One row away was Mike and John, looking to see if I was okay. And I knew it was. (Dooky, I know you were there, probably hiding under the seat sucking your thumb and wetting yourself. just kiddin' bud!) It is in moments like that you know who your true friends are. You guys have been with me since the beginning. And I think you always will be. To everyone...including us, Star Wars is just a movie, and it will ALWAYS be JUST a movie. But it is what we get out of the movie, the life experiences surrounding the movie that make us who we are. The kind of group we are. The kind of friends we are. As I talk to people today about what they thought of the movie I am hearing the same things, the dialogue was lacking, the characters were acting like cardboard cut-outs, and so-on. Some of the real cynics don't understand or actually felt sorry for me that I wasted all this time in line to see a movie that didn't meet their expectations or standards. Imagine that. Six years of my life anticipating each new movie, each new campout, and each new friendship I have, has been wasted according to some people because of a movie. As much as we might have loved the movies, and as much as some people didn't quite like the movies or even hated the movies, according to them, what we did, was a waste. As I sat there in the theatre on opening night, watching the movie sitting next to my best friend and the love of my life, crying throughout parts of the movie, and seeing it end for the last time I realize that this is not the end. The movie might be over, the camp out might be over, but what we have and had over the past 6 years will never end. With this campout over, and this Blog just about finished up, we all have so much to look forward to! Spending time with our wives and soon to be wives, getting our families started, our careers going and so much more! And because of Star Wars and the campouts we were a part of, and the friendships that were made and sealed, we are all a part of each others lives! Whether we like it or not! So, to all the lovers of Star Wars, and all the cynics who have the honor of reading this Blog, you will never understand just how deeply Star Wars is a part of us. Six guys. Two weeks. One movie. And a lifetime worth of friendships. All because of Star Wars. Now who says this is just a movie? We do. May the Force be with you...one last time.