Note 5

Qui-Gon Jinn,

It is a shame, but true, that strangers are not welcomed wherever they may show up. By not being welcoming to strangers, many people lose the gift of getting to know others, interacting with them, and helping them.

Sandstorms are extremely dangerous. In every sandstorm, at least one person is always injured or killed.

Thank you for your praise of my cooking. I'm glad that you enjoyed the food, though I am sure it is not what you are used to. I know you meant well by offering to repay for the food, however, and your offer was generous. However, let me explain something to you that you perhaps have never thought.

We do not get many visitors here, as I have already said. Therefore, there is not much opportunity to serve others, or to put this another way, to have the opportunity to be blessed through helping others. While it is a blessing to give kindness or gifts to another, it is also a blessing to receive these things from another. Kindness takes both a giver and a receiver. Part of giving to another is to have the pleasure of helping someone else…therefore we are blessed to be able to help another. Sometimes we need to be on the receiving end, sometimes we must learn to accept another's gifts or kindness graciously. If no one ever accepted gifts or kindness, then we would be unable to help one another. You would be robbing me of the opportunity of being blessed through helping you.

However, if you want to repay me, that is fine, but please do not feel that you have to. I am only a slave anyway. Everything that I own belongs to my master, and we do not have much of our own money.

My son was very much in awe to find that you are a Jedi Knight. I find it hard to believe that a Jedi would come all the way here, to a system not in the Republic. Not many Jedi come to Tatooine…in fact you are the first I have met.

I will have to talk to Anakin about this Sebulba encounter that you told me about. I don't like the sound of that, that Anakin took part in an exchange of not so nice words. He knows better than that.

Hmmm…Jar-Jar is the first Gungan I have met. Interesting.

I wish I could provide him a better way of life, but we are slaves. As for the source of our kindness (this singular kindness that you say that Anakin and I posses), I can take no credit for it. It is true that we strive to act in kindness, but let me tell you about the source. I have tried my best to establish a Christian home. I have taught Anakin all I know about God, and the Bible. Anakin and I are the remainder of what I have as a family.

It is a pleasure to know a Jedi Knight, and I am glad that you are in my home.

Podracing is very fast, and very dangerous. This is the reason that I do not like it when Anakin races. I think Anakin is the only human who has ever participated in it. Watto had looked into this before he had Anakin race for the first time. Yes, it seems as if everyone bets on those awful races. It is very much a source of entertainment and gambling.

It is true that my son is very good at fixing mechanical things. I don't know about him being able to fix ANYTHING, but he certainly has his way with mechanical objects.

You suspect that the Force is very strong with him? I suspected so myself, ever since he was a few weeks old. It's comforting to know that a Jedi shares in my assessment.

I have thought about Anakin's proposition, and, although I may not like it, there is no other way. He told me that you needed to get to Coruscant with a queen from a planet in danger? If this is the truth, and since Anakin is determined to help, I will let him race. He was meant to help you.

Yes, I have seen it too…that Anakin can see things before they happen. I believe that God has given Anakin this strong connection with the Force. After all, we were all given gifts, and Anakin's happens to be this Force thing.

And now to answer your final question. This is a subject that I do not like to bring up often, but if you think it will help him, I will tell you the truth. The only thing I ask is that you not tell Anakin. I am planning on telling him one day, but it is going to be very hard for him to handle. Anakin's father…..his birth name was Summoner Skywalker, but has since changed his name to Cliegg Lars. Summoner and I had two children, but times were hard on Tatooine.

One day, when I was obviously pregnant with a third child, Anakin, my husband surprised me and took me to the Hutts. He sold me into slavery, saying that he would buy me back some day. You can't imagine how hard this was on me. I could not tell Anakin about his father yet, so I have told him that he has no father.

Now this may help you understand, Anakin's grandfather was a Jedi himself, Lowdun Skywalker. Perhaps you have heard of him? Lowdun was never a full Jedi, I believe you call them Padawans, yes, he was a Padawan. Now I don't know the full story. You would have to ask my husband, or his father, but Lowdun's master was somehow killed. Soon afterward, his parents were also killed. He also had some sort of dream, but I don't know the subject of this dream. All of these things combined to drive him to withdraw from your Jedi Order. He came to Tatooine and got married, and had a family.

Does this help?

I do know that my husband's family line has been gifted with this highly tuned force thing. Neither my husband nor my other sons had this. It seems to skip around, but I do know that it exists in the Skywalker family.

Please let me know your final decision about whether Anakin will fly in this race. I have given you my permission.

Anakin's mother,

Shmi