Everyone had a horrific 2016, right? Mine was exceptionally bad. In April, my cousin - who was my lifelong best friend - died suddenly. In July, my mom followed. Both were unexpected and both were due to a stroke in the exact same location. When I read that Carrie Fisher had suffered a heart attack, I just completely lost it. I spent most of Christmas Eve and Day anxiously googling the status of her condition. Princess Leia has ALWAYS been my favorite character - for as long as I can remember. She was the first tough, stubborn, strong female character that I had ever seen put the men in their places. She was beautiful and she was badass.
Carrie Fisher embodied her character. She was brave, unapologetically forthright and she was one prolific writer. In my later years, I discovered she was just as - if not even more - amazing than the character she portrayed. She blazed a trail for mental health awareness and acceptance in a manner that usurped even Leia's fortitude and her words truly changed my outlook on my own struggles with mental health. I loved them both - the woman and the character. I can't even begin to count how many hours I spent on this retrospective, but it was an insane amount of work. I couldn't imagine anything more therapeutic though.
I worked through so much grief stitching through some of my most cherished cinematic memories. 2016 - in one fell swoop - took all my favorite women. Since my personal therapy is crocheting and my chosen profession is newborn photography - at least I have a tangible way to hold onto those memories. RIP, Carrie. You have NO idea how much impact you made on my life. Neither the bra nor the moonlight stand a chance against you.
