Teaching Your Children To Respect Legacy: Interview With Joonas Suotamo #HanSoloEvent

I was invited to an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles courtesy of Disney to attend the #HanSoloEvent in exchange for my coverage. No other compensation was provided. All views shared are completely my own.

 

OMGOODNESS!  He sat right down and immediately starting speaking Chewbacca.  It was absolutely the best thing ever!  Yup, that is right – Joonas Suotamo is a Finnish actor and a former professional basketball player and Chewbacca in several Star Wars films, most recently SOLO: A Star Wars Story. 

 

Talking with Joonas was so much fun.  Learning about how he landed the role as Chewbacca, to how his basketball career played a role in his stunt abilities and his first-time meeting Harrison Ford.  It was a very interesting and vibrant interview.  At the top of the interview right before he started speaking Chewbacca, with a beautiful smile he said, “How’s everybody doing?”  He was so warm and genuine, I was eager to hear about his SOLO experiences especially since he was gracious enough to take me for a ride on the Millennium Falcon.  LOL!

 

I’m telling you, he was just a great guy.  I was so intrigued as he shared his experiences.  When asked what the biggest challenge with the suit was, like something we wouldn’t normally think of or what his biggest obstacle was, he said,

“…the biggest one probably is just respecting the legacy of Chewbacca, because he was played by Peter Mayhew, the legendary, original Chewbacca. I want it to be so that the fans going to these films see the same Chewbacca who was in the original films, because Chewbacca is so loved, and I would not want there to be a feeling that Chewbacca somehow feels different this time around.”

 

If you are a busy mom like me, you understand the pace at which we live our lives can present a real challenge to parenting.  A challenge that can impact the legacy lesson that we teach our children.  When Joonas began talking about the challenge of protecting the legacy of Chewbacca, I thought “how inspiring!” I knew at that very moment that I would talk about this quote.  I think it’s important to teach our children about respecting legacy.

 

One definition of Legacy is “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor of from the past.”   I am always thinking about the legacy that I not only want to leave for my son but the type of person that he will become as a result of the legacy that he’s learned to live.  There are several qualities of legacy that are important to us that my husband and I strive to teach our son Chance.

• An important quality of legacy for us is to raise him to be moral. It is our duty to serve our society as best we can, by raising Chance to understand the importance of right and wrong – and to strive to do right by others.

 

• Another important quality of legacy for my husband and I to teach Chance are family values. Our family values are a reflection of who we are and how we parent.  We know that our values will have a major influence on Chance’s attitude and behavior and serve as a guide in all life’s situations.

 

• One of the most important qualities of legacy for us is a legacy of faith. While we think it is critically important to invest in education, extracurricular, and even experiential learning but faith is by far the best legacy that we believe we can leave and teach Chance.

 

With our increasingly competitive, materialistic “me first’ society, respecting legacy has been replaced with selfish pleasures.  Lately, I have been dealing with some pretty serious health issues.  Naturally as a result, legacy has been at the forefront of my mind lately.  Not just morality, values, and faith…but the legacy of history as well. 

Joonas wanted to respect Chewbacca’s legacy but also honor the work of Peter Mayhew who came before him.  And I truly want to be that mom that teaches, shares, and inspires legacy through our rich history…like that of Chewbacca.  He’s iconic to the galaxy and the world.  Speaking of, you can check him out in SOLO: A Star Wars Story in theaters everywhere on May 25^th. Trust me please, you want to see this movie.

How are you teaching your children to respect legacy?  With technology and instant access, our children are forced to grow up too fast or have not grown enough.  Therefore, respecting legacy is a vital lesson.  I would love to hear from you!

 

[latoyia]

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