Story 15/24: Every Christmas season, Brian and I plan activities to do with our family. Last night, we took our kids to a late night showing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The movie started at 11:35 pm. We went ten minutes early and took our seats on the very back row of the theater.

What I love about Sci-fi flicks are the fans, specifically the Geeks—with a capital G. Geeks are fantastic people who are intelligent as well as enthusiastic. Yes, they spend thousands of dollars on costumes. Yes, they play a whole lot of video games and seem to prefer an existence in digital form to any other kind, but that’s part of their appeal. They turn the act of playing a video game, going to a conference, and watching a movie into an interpersonal experience and bring everyone around them along for the ride.

When the house lights lowered and before the famed prologue of Star Wars scrolled onto the starry screen in bold, yellow font, someone in the audience drew his blue lightsaber.

Usually, during a non-Sci-fi film, when the movie is about to start, and someone pulls out their cell phone, the audience hisses and groans until the assaulting blue screen is dimmed and sheathed once more—heck, wasn’t someone in Florida shot and killed for not putting away his cell phone during a show? Last night when a vibrant blue light about three feet in length rose from the dark, the audience clapped.

I’m not a Geek. No one in my family is a Geek–although Brian is close–still, we felt comfortable being there. We felt like we belonged.

Christmas is a holiday of community. It is putting aside our politics, suspending our differing beliefs, and instead, sharing the moment. It was this spirit that my family witnessed last night.