A STAR HAS FALLEN

They will be toasting him tonight. At Starfleet Academy, at various military outposts on various grimy worlds way out there at the edge of the galaxy half forgotten, and of course on that great ship; old and battered but more storied than any other, they will be toasting him. Officer, Friend. Legend.

They will not be toasting him on his homeworld. Such affection may not be considered logical. But they will acknowledge him, they will have a place for him, if not for the memory of his companionship but for his achievements He was not always one of them, not purely, but through his actions he proved himself and proved his worth to this most prosaic of cultures

It will not be just Starfleet and Vulcan that will miss him, that will acknowledge him. All over, on many worlds in many languages, they will know him. They will know about the one who was different, the one who was conflicted, torn between two kinds of existences, two kinds of reality. The conflicted one,  who like them in all their various ways was not perfect, was not well defined, who could not be categorized; yet he still moved forward, he still found a way to succeed, who defied both sides of his own nature to become not one thing, not one or the other, but who became himself

That is what they will remember, as they move their own lives, trying to find who they are, trying to find their niche and sometimes failing, trying to deal with all those who demanded of them "Who are you, what are you, which one are you" They will think of him and how he just became himself

And that self became a legend.

Leonard Nimoy was not Spock. He told us so. But then later on he knew that he was. He told us that as well. He was a man of may talents, a man of many things

But he was Spock. And Spock was more than the pointed ears and the raised eyebrows. He was a character torn between two destinies. And through the long on screen life of that character came to realize that his destiny was his own. That his flaws made him stronger than his strength and damn, he had some kind of strength

A star has fallen today. But there is no void in the galaxy. Because that star's gravity was so great, its affect will be felt for a long long time

RIP Leonard Nimoy. You will live a long time in our minds and our hearts and we shall be the ones who will prosper