On June 8, 1977, my 13th birthday, my father announced that the whole family was going out to get donuts. This is something we did from time to time, going to the closest Winchell’s Donut shop (they had great donuts, but have long since disappeared). After we’d been driving for a while, I noticed we weren’t going to the usual shop, and my father said there was a much better store in San Jose. I wasn’t too fast to pick up on the fact that he was spoofing me; in fact, when we came in sight of the Century theaters, I exclaimed that that was where “Star Wars” was playing, and it wasn’t until we turned into the parking lot of the theater that I figured out what my birthday present was.

I was one of those kids who was dying to see the movie. At that time, exactly two weeks after its release, it was still only playing in very few theaters, such as the Century in San Jose and the Coronet in San Francisco. Naturally, I was ecstatic to find out I’d be seeing it that day.

After the film ended, we were walking out to the parking lot when my mother, who’d left the group, caught up with us and gave me something: the button you see pictured here. She had seen one of the theater ushers wearing it, and had asked if she could buy one. When the usher said they weren’t for sale, my mother started to tell the story about how much her son loved that movie and would die to have a button like that, as only mothers can do. Defenseless, the usher gave up his own button, which my mother then presented to me.

Okay, call me geeky, call me a nerd (I fully expect someone to do that in the comments), but I still have the button and I’m going to quietly wear it tomorrow when I go see Revenge of the Sith. (Which is the first day it is showing in Japan, in a delayed release here.) I’ve actually never worn it before, not to any subsequent Star Wars movie screenings (though I probably did wear it to school a couple of times 28 years ago). But this being the last film, I figure, why not? (Actually, a search on Google showed several people with the identical pin had the same idea already. So I can’t be the geekiest, so what?)

And just in case you were wondering, no, it’s not really that valuable as a collectible. Someone on EBay is selling a similar one for $6, though this guy is asking $20 for the one identical to mine. Not that I’d ever part with it–its sentimental value is way too high.