Don't Grieve. It Is Logical.

Yesterday, people all over the world slipped from this plane to the next, but one person's passing in particular had an impact on me.

Mr. Nimoy may have been a stranger to me, known only because of his celebrity, but he didn't feel like a stranger. He felt like a friend, a relative, and his passing hurt like it.

I saw the news earlier this week of his admittance to the hospital with chest pains, and my own chest squeezed a bit. I hoped the severity was exaggerated. I hoped for a speedy recovery.

I didn't hear anything for a few days. Then, at lunch with friends on Friday, I was blindsided.

As we were collecting our things to leave, one of them said offhandedly, "It's too bad about Spock."

I froze. I knew what she was going to say. That knowledge made hearing it no less painful. He's always been there. I don't remember a time when he wasn't there. Logically, I knew time was running out.

I managed to keep it together until I got home.  I was heartsick. I am still heartsick. With each reshare, each status, each photo or quote from Mr. Nimoy, it was ever harder to not break down and cry. Post after post rolled across my feed, and I finally broke. I cried like I never have for a celebrity, because he was so much more.

Yes, he was Spock, but he also fought for women's rights. He was a photographer, and he created The Full Body Project. He directed movies (including two of the Star Trek movies) and wrote poetry.

I couldn't wrap my head around him being gone. I couldn't scroll through Facebook without weeping. I've never felt this for any other celebrity before. Finally, in desperation, I did as I'm sure many others had, I queued up Netflix and watched Star Trek II.

I watched and wept as he died from radiation poisoning and told Capt. Kirk, "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."

I watched Spock's funeral, and ugly cried as Capt. Kirk said, "Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human."

I wished with all my heart that there was a real Genesis project, and that it would find Mr. Nimoy and give him back to us. "There are always possibilities."

But I knew, that wouldn't happen.

His final tweet was on Monday. "Life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" I have the feeling he knew his time had come.

He was an amazing person. He was an actor, director, musician, writer, photographer, poet, and humanitarian. He was known and loved by millions, and will be deeply missed by just as many.

He lived long, and he prospered.

"It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before. A far better resting place I go to than I have ever known." ~ Spock

"He's not really dead as long as we remember him." ~ Bones