T-65 Strikefighter Pilot

@2017 Haytham Lafhaj Photography

I am old enough to have been 6 years old when Star Wars came out in 1977.  I have a few memories of my parents taking us to see it.  We saw it in an old theatre with ridiculous chairs where the bottom part would slide out.  My brother got a kick out of those and played chair during many movies.  Did we go see Star Wars on opening day? Who knows, and who cares, that's not the point.  The point is that we went, and my mom and dad were there.

I cannot tell you what it is like to lose a parent because I'm still processing all this shit.  But what I can tell you is that my whole entire life, my dad told me I could be anything I wanted to be, and that I could do anything I set my mind to.  He never tried to dissuade me from doing anything.  He taught me to shoot.  He taught me to fish.  He taught me to drive.  He taught me how to use credit cards. (OK, maybe that is not fully true....).  And one thing is for certain, he told me I could be a pilot if I set my mind to it. 

The thing about cosplay is that we each chose the characters we represent because they mean something to us.  Some of us chose very popular characters, like Ray Stantz, or Han Solo.  Today there are gender-benders who do amazing cosplay of the opposite sex, or androgynous characters.  Then there are those of us who chose characters based on very early memories of being a child.  They may not be the "popular" characters, and may be background characters.  But they mean something to us.

I grew up wanting to be an astronaut.  I have been been to Space Camp two times, because my dad said I could do anything I set my mind to.  Obviously, that astronaut gig did not pan out too well, and it took me 25 years, but I finally have my job in space.  Because my dad said I could do anything I set my mind to. I could sit at the end of a runway all day long and watch the planes come and go. I have done some amazing things in my life, and met some amazing people along the way.  I even met a childhood hero of mine when I first got my job at NOAA.  Kathy Sullivan, who was the NOAA Administrator at that time, was picked to be in the first group of women into the shuttle program.  She signed my Right Stuff Award I received from the second time I went to Space Camp.  

I know my dad supported me and my desire to never really grow up.  During his last few months, I would email him pictures of my antics at Disney or Star Warsing.  My mom said he enjoyed them a lot.  So back to cosplay and picking characters.  Growing up, I wanted to be Luke Skywalker and fly an X Wing.  I was never told I could not.  When I wanted to join the elite Star Wars costuming groups, I immediately went with the Rebels and the X Wing Pilot.  I did not want to be Luke Skywalker, but I wanted to be a pilot like him for many, many years.  So I picked that one.  It's not a popular character during our troops.  No one ever walks in and goes, "OMG it's a PILOT!!!"  I often get people standing directly in front of me because they want to be by Chewy, Rey, Han, or Leia.  And you know what.....that's OK.  We do this for them, not ourselves.  So processing all this shit now I realize how many things I have done because I was never told I couldn't do something.  

I am a T-65 Strikefighter Pilot.  Because my dad told me I could be anything I wanted to be.