It is not logical, but it is often true

I'm still quietly reeling from Leonard Nimoy's death on Friday.

This isn't some excessive fangirl reaction, some indulgence in popular over-emotion in the wake of an Officially Sanctioned Sad Event. It's simply that one of the trellises on which I grew my character is gone, really gone. I felt the same way twelve years ago (to the day) when Fred Rogers died. It's an inward-looking moment, an understanding that I have to be a grownup and make my own choices, because so many of my leaders and teachers are washing away before my eyes.

It's simple, but that's not the same as easy. Reinventing, or rediscovering, yourself never is.

But inventing myself the first time wasn't easy either. I was always looking for models for interacting with the world and dealing with unacceptable emotions, trying to understand how to care about people who were different than me, looking for reassurance that they would care back. I was four years old when I started watching Leonard Nimoy use the character of Spock to teach those lessons.

There are lots of articles out there about how he, and Star Trek, affected people: how they grew onto, over, and beyond the trellis of those stories and characters. I don't have anything that I want to add to them. But it sounds like there's discussion to be had in the community, and I'd be interested in reading it.