Carrie Fisher is my Queen

I originally wrote this post on October 18th, 2016, a few short weeks after I met Carrie Fisher at New York Comic Con 2016.  I never posted it because I wanted to clean it up - it's just a rambling account of meeting her, our brief interaction, typed quickly to record the moment so I wouldn't forget the details. But I never cleaned it up, I never hit post, I never added photos.

I miss her, like so many of us that she touched with her humor and wit and portrayal of Princess (GENERAL!) Leia.

Today is her birthday, so eff it, I'm hitting post. No edits, except to include this brief explanation. 

Last week I met Carrie Fisher. It was amazing. I'm considering going broke to Celebration Orlando in the hopes that I can meet her again.

The day started with us sleeping in and taking it easy. We had been up early to get in line the previous three days, and all we had on our schedule today was my photo op and one late panel.

I had decided to wear my "Kylo Ren is a punk bitch" shirt by Jordandene. I had originally bought the tank top, but since I've lost weight it's a little big now. It wouldn't be too bad, but it gapes at the sides and I didn't have anything to layer it with to hide my bra, other than a cardigan! On Thursday of NYCC I made sure to stop by Jordan's booth and buy a tee in a smaller size, so I wouldn't have to wear the cardigan and cover up the print.

It was the perfect choice, because Carrie Fisher LOVED it.

My photo op timeslot started at 2:00pm. Instructions said to arrive fifteen minutes early, but we arrived at 1:30. There were lots of people there already, so we got in the correct line and waited until it finally started moving.

The Boyfriend was going to hold my bag for me and just walk through to the exit with the line - possibly catching a glimpse of Carrie, keeping track of me. I can't put words to it, but I wanted this photo to be mine, and being the easy-going guy he is, he had no problems with that (I did offer to buy a second photo op when I bought mine). But they weren't letting people walk through with bags - all bags went into a "bag check" area, to be picked up immediately after taking your photo. So The Boyfriend decided to just wait outside the curtains with the stuff.

I entered the tiny curtained room and there she was, sitting on a chair with Gary, her loyal dog, beside her. She was leaning in to give everyone hugs and cracking jokes.

An attendant was reminding everyone to go quickly, walk up, hug, photo, leave behind Carrie's chair. Funneling everyone in and out, in and out. This was reminiscent of the experiences I read about at Wizard World Philly, though everyone here seemed nicer about it.

I waited my turn and walked up to Carrie, saying hello as I took my place beside her chair.

She asked me what my shirt said, so I turned towards her and held it out, making it more legible.

"Kylo Ren is a punk..."
"Bitch!" I cheerily replied.
She repeated the quote, and added "He certainly is!" Then she told me she wanted one, to which I replied they were being sold upstairs. She turned to the people standing near the camera, "Did you hear that? They're selling them upstairs! Someone go get me a shirt!"

We hugged and took our photo. I thanked her, but she made me pause before I could make my obedient, quick exit - "Did you guys see this shirt?" She gestured at me, so I held it out again. The door attendant was trying to shoo me away. "Kylo Ren is a punk bitch!" Carrie repeated.

I was simultaneously in awe and cracking up! She is so friendly and funny and she's as amazing as I expected her to be! I said thank you again and left so the next person could get their photo. And as I walked out through the maze of curtains, I started to cry. I wanted that moment to last. I wanted to go buy her a shirt. I wanted The Boyfriend to have seen Carrie.


Thanks for reading. If you want more Carrie today, I recommend her memoirs (Wishful Drinking, Shockaholic, and The Princess Diarist) and HBO specials (Wishful Drinking and Bright Lights) - she pulled no punches, held nothing back, and I love her voice. She'll always be royalty to me.