The day Carrie Fisher died, was like a gut-punch to millions of people around the world. I remember being deeply affected by the news, more so that I really care to admit. I have always had a deep devotion to Star Wars in a way that is pretty hard to describe. It probably goes back to playing with the toys as a child and even remembering bits and pieces of seeing The Empire Strikes Back in the theater with my dad.
Because of that devotion to the franchise, I have always seen these characters as iconic staples of pop culture. People or characters that would never go away. In December of 2016 we all learned that these characters are just as fragile as everyone else in this world.
For me, losing Carrie Fisher meant that we had lost Princess Leia, and would never be able to experience new things with that character. For those that new Carrie Fisher as a person, it meant that they lost a lot more than one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history. They lost a friend, a family member, and to Billie Lourd – a mother.
Billie Lourd took some time to write an article for Time, about the somewhat overwhelming responsibility of looking after Princess Leia since the passing of her mother. If you read only one thing today, take a few minutes and read that article. It is a warming look at the relationship between a mother and daughter, and the responsibility of keeping Princess Leia around forever.
On that first day, my mom and I sat next to each other in the hair and makeup trailer. (Actually, she wasn’t really one for sitting, so she paced up and down and around me, occasionally reapplying her already overapplied glitter makeup and feeding Gary, her French bulldog.) Between glitterings, the hairstylist crafted what was to become General Leia’s hairstyle, then it was on to me: little Lieutenant Connix. Funnily enough, my mom had more to say about my hairstyle than her own. Even though she complained for years about how the iconic Leia buns “further widened my already wide face,” she desperately wanted me to carry on the face-widening family tradition! Some people carry on their family name, some people carry on holiday traditions–I was going to carry on the family hairstyle. So after we tested a few other space-appropriate hairstyles, we decided to embrace the weird galactic nepotism of it all and went with the mini–Leia buns. She stood in the mirror behind me and smiled like we had gotten matching tattoos. Our secret-handshake hairstyle.
Check out the entire article at Time.com. Do you remember where you were or what you were doing the day you learned of Carrie Fisher’s passing? Leave your comments below and share with the community.
