Memorial Health System Hospitals
Celebrate May the 4th With “Star Wars” Babies – Including a Luke
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[May 05, 2021]
![](../images/050521pics/MMC%20Baby%2002%20Yoda%2010_small.jpg)
Meet Luke Gray
Sokolowski, not Luke Skywalker, but Logan County's first Star Wars
"May the fourth (be with you)" baby boy in 2021. Luke was born May
4th, at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. He is the son of
Matthew and Tamara Sokolowski of Lincoln.
![](../images/050521pics/050421%20yoda%202_small.jpeg)
Soon after, along
came Logan County's second Star Wars Baby, Westley Shelton, son of
mom Taylor Gregory and dad Ryan Shelton, born at Abraham Lincoln
Memorial Hospital in Lincoln.
Luke was born at 9:59 a.m. on Tuesday and Wesley was born a few
minutes later at 10:02 a.m.
As a fun play on the pun, the hospitals of Memorial Health Systems
provided "Yoda" caps and personal light sabers to all the babies
born of their five hospitals on Tuesday.
May the 4th With “Star Wars” Babies – Including a Luke
What are the odds two Star Wars fans expecting their second son,
whom they had planned to name Luke, would be scheduled to deliver
via C-section on Star Wars Day? Han Solo might advise against
considering those chances – “Never tell me the odds,” the character
notoriously mutters as he navigates his Millennium Falcon through an
asteroid field.
Despite the odds, Luke Gray Sokolowski was born at 9:59 a.m. on May
4 at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. He is the son of
Matthew and Tamara Sokolowski of Lincoln. He weighed 9 pounds, 2
ounces and measured 20 ˝ inches long. Luke has one sibling, Matthew
James, 3 ˝.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Apr/19/images/ads/current/culligan_sda_SFARM_2021.png)
Luke and other babies born Tuesday, May 4 at MMC, Decatur Memorial
Hospital, Passavant Area Hospital and Abraham Lincoln Memorial
Hospital were dressed as Baby Yoda to celebrate Star Wars Day. The
Baby Yoda ensemble even included a crocheted lightsaber.
Fans of Star Wars celebrate today because the date reflects a
catchphrase from the movies, “May the Force be with you.” Baby Yoda
is the popular character from the Star Wars’ The Mandalorian TV
series.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
“It seems like it was just meant to be,” said Tamara Sokolowski, who had planned
to name her second-born youngling Luke even before she knew his scheduled
delivery date. “It’s a name I’ve always loved,” she said.
The Sokolowskis both enjoy best the three original Star Wars movies of the late
1970s and early 1980s.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/May/05/images/ads/current/christianvillage_sda_SPONSOR_042720.png)
“I’m an ‘80s girl,” said Tamara. “I grew up with those movies.”
Tamara remembers her favorite characters being the Ewoks, those short furry
forest-dwellers with a penchant for song and for poking other characters with
spears.
“I also loved Princess Leia and, of course, Luke was my favorite,” she said.
“I’m definitely a fan of Luke,” agreed Matthew. “’Luke, I am your father.’”
Both Sokolowskis donned Star Wars-related T-shirts and have at-the-ready Star
Wars-themed outfits for baby Luke. Embracing a “Do, or do not” approach to his
son’s birth on Star Wars Day, Matthew purchased matching shirts for himself and
Luke that read, “Master” and “Apprentice.”
“We’ll have fun birthdays,” said Tamara. As the couple prepped for Luke’s
delivery on Tuesday morning, those future birthday parties may seem far, far
away; but, as parents know, childhood tends to happen at light speed.
In addition to Luke and Wesley the following May the Fourth babies were born at
Memorial Hospitals on Tuesday.
Decatur Memorial Hospital
Mom Reyann White
Baby Girl
Decatur Memorial Hospital
Mom Rashunda Williams
Baby Kourtnee
Passavant Area Hospital
Mom Janet Gregory
Dad Shane Courtwright
Baby Zayne Damon Courtwright
Passavant Area Hospital
Dad John Bull
Mom Courtney Bull
Baby Joseph Ryan Bull
[Angie Muhs] |