A Little Bit of My Childhood, Gone Away.

The actor who played Chewbacca in Star Wars, Peter Mayhew, recently passed away.

While I have a fondness for all the original characters, Chewie was kind of my guy. Oversized, covered with fur, goofy, unable to play chess...

When I was 7 or 8 years old I asked for a large Chewbacca action figure for Christmas. My parents may not have understood the request because I ended up with a fluffy teddy-bear Chewie. I wasn't entirely thrilled at the time, but Plush Chewie grew on me and so he was a regular bedtime companion until I was 12 or so. Afterwards he was pretty much on a book shelf for display and I admit I grew out of the idea of owning a doll like that. I can't recall when he ended up going to a donation store, or whatever else happened to him.

There's times in my adulthood when I wonder why I let so much of my childhood things go. It was like letting go of some memories here and there. I feel this way when the actors I grew up with, playing the characters of my childhood, pass away.

Goodbye Chewie. What a Wookie!