Wizzer's World

This weekend was quite the interesting weekend! The one story I really want to tell is about Sunday’s birthday party. There was a birthday party for a friend of mine and Amy’s. (Was actually for her son, 4 years old) Her son is enamored with Vader. So knowing that Amy and I were 501st, she asked us if there was any way we could get a Vader for the party. I hemmed and hawed about it and as you know, finally broke down and asked. At first I didn’t hear back and so Erin (the mom) was a little downhearted. She asked if I could then wear a costume that she bought. I said yes, and she bought one of the Party City Halloween type costumes.

This thing was ghetto. As you can tell from the picture. The original costume didn’t have gloves and the mask was only a front part. I added my scout gloves, a real leather cape and my Hasbro Voice Changer helmet just to make it look a little better. We had to tape up the front part of the “Jumpsuit” to cover up the printed chest box as my helmet had a box with it.

Finally I got a e-mail back from the one and only Roger Sharp. He said that he was just getting back into town the day prior and that he might be able to do it. I can work with might! We didn’t tell the Mom so as to not get her hopes up. The party was Sunday afternoon.

Sunday morning I get a call from Roger that his car was towed. (As well as many other bombshells) I ask if there was anything I could do, he said that he had it covered but that he may be a bit late. I was astonished that he still wanted to do the party even. I explained that we had the ghetto as a back up and that he should take care of what he had. He set out to get his car back (from nearby where we were.)

Andrew, Amy and I headed off to the party to either stall or get dressed in the ghetto costume. Andrew was helping with all of the costuming like he had been doing it for years. (He is still excited that he might be able to wear my scout costume soon) We threw me into the Vader costume so that Erin (The mom) could see what it looked like. We were just about ready to go in when I got a call. Roger was in Old Town Fairfax and wondering where he should go from there.

I quickly stripped off the Ghetto Costume and went to guide him in. He truly looked mentally exhausted. We suited him up quickly and I got into my scout. (It felt weird wearing Vader anyways) We walked into the room with all of the kids and handed the little boy his present from Vader, a build your own light saber kit. He had a small light saber duel with Vader and we said hi to all the other kids. After that we stepped out and stripped off the costume. Total time with the kids was maybe 5-10 min. I think we took longer getting in and out of costume.

As a thanks, I took Roger and his new Fiancé out to Coffee and a late lunch. We relaxed and chatted and had a great time. That evening we called and spoke to the mom and she was still in tears, she didn’t think that someone would go through all of that just to bring a smile to a 4 year olds face. Apparently the little boy was telling everyone how special it was that he had Vader at his party, and that he got to duel Vader.

I was absolutely amazed and humbled at how committed Roger was to showing up there and making a party like that just that much more special. He is truly a Super Trooper.

Thanks again Roger!