Carrie Fisher, My Princess, My Hero.

I remember waking up from a nap one morning as a child. The sound of speeders and gun fire was coming from the living room. I looked around upstairs for my parents before descending the staircase at our old home in Tacoma, WA.

As I turned the staircase I saw a woman talking with a little bear on the television screen and was enchanted. I sat down on the floor next to my dad on the couch, “Dad what are we watching?” “Star Wars, honey.” “What’s that?” “Shhh, just watch.”

I sat in silence as I watched Return of The Jedi for the first time with my dad. My siblings woke up thereafter and sat with us and watched the remainder of the film. As princesses, jedi, ewoks, and a scruffy nerf herder celebrated on a planet called Endor, I fell in love.

The woman I had discovered, was Princess Leia. A scrappy, tough-talking, princess from a planet that had been destroyed previous to her time with the Ewoks. She had been captured, lost everything, and still did not give up. I loved her sass, her gumption. She was the leading lady I wanted to be. A leader with good-looks and a brain.

As time passed, I watched her beginnings, learned her backstory, and have been enthralled with her since age six. Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and the many, many roles she has played since, has been nothing short of phenomenal. Yeah, some movies were bad, some were good, but her role as the princess is consistently great – no, f*cking good.

Bob Iger put it right, “Carrie Fisher was one-of-a-kind, a true character who shared her talent and her truth with us all with her trademark wit and irreverence. Millions fell in love with her as the indomitable Princess Leia; she will always have a special place in the hearts of Star Wars fans as well as all of us who were lucky enough to know her personally. She will be sorely missed, and we join millions of fans and friends around the world who mourn her loss today.”

I’ve dressed up as Princess Leia, and have always want to embody Carrie Fisher’s iconic heroine. With her passing this week, I’m left heart broken as are so many fans across the world. She was a mother, a daughter, a princess, then..a general.

I’d like to imagine that to all the fans out there we’d say to her “I love you,” and Carrie would reply, “I know.” Carrie Fisher, you will be deeply, truly, horribly missed. You are one with the force now and we will look for you in the stars. “She’ll always be royalty, to me.”

Carrie Fisher is survived by her daughter Lourd, mother Debbie Reyonlds, brother and sisters, millions of fans across the globe, the beloved cast and crew of the most epic franchise in history, Star Wars, and her renowned French Bulldog, Gary.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Princess/General Leia Organa.

Here are the best scenes between Han Solo and Princess Leia from StarWars.com