I am so happy for William Shatner and the crew of the Blue Origin Rocket Blue Shepardwho touched the edge of space yesterday! Bill is now the oldest human at age 90 to go into space. I just wanted to hug him. Enjoy this marvelous footage from the PBS News Hour (with blessedly little commentary from the hosts) as “Captain Kirk” meets reality and this life-changing moment. I have tears of joy watching this, you might too!
In his post flight interview he is clearly overwhelmed by the technical magic he just went through and his most poignant comments involve how thin our blue ‘sheet’ of atmosphere is all there is between us and blackness. He equates it to life and death. Beautiful. Congratulations Bill! SO happy for you.
Recently I asked for your prayers for my brother John, who had been diagnosed with Covid on August 10th. I thank you for all of your care, prayers, and support.
Sadly, my dear brother John passed away from complications of Covid on August 31, just a few days after his 70th Birthday. We are devastated, especially since we just lost our only other brother, Mike,74, on July 27, only a couple weeks after a devastating fall. As I mentioned in a post recently, earlier this year I also lost my brother-in-law Jack (from M.S.) and a wonderful friend, Mary (from recurrent cancer). This has been a hellish year.
I’m sure you’ll understand why I haven’t posted for a while, but I truly appreciate your continued patronage and friendship through this site. I have been working on a fun Trek article about props, but I probably won’t get back to it for a little while, as you can imagine.
At the moment I’m still processing John’s passing, and it is hell. Michael’s passing was bad enough but somehow easier to take since he had been in the ICU for nearly two weeks. But John. The hell of it was that we couldn’t visit him in the Covid ward, and because every day he was fighting so hard just to breathe, that it was even difficult for him to talk on the phone for long, and was so weak to even text. We were able to relay to him our love not long before he passed, and he related to my remaining 4 sisters and I that he loved us too. I cannot imagine life without him, he was such a loving and helpful man; always there for us. We are broken.
My brother John was so funny and loving. At 10 years older than I, he used to torment me as a kid, like most big brothers, but he loved me and all of us dearly. (For years I’d cringe when he’d enter a room in case he’d give me a Vulcan Nerve pinch – complete with whistled sound effect!) He was a magnificent artist with pen and ink, loved car racing, motorcycles and Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. Of course he liked Trek too, it was his poster of Mr. Spock on his bedroom wall that first fascinated me with the character. He never owned a car that didn’t need body work, and he loved his cats.
The worst part of this whole event was that it was avoidable. Sadly, John wouldn’t get the vaccination, even though the rest of us had all had our shots, and had urged him to get it. Tragically, he had been taken in by misinformation and baseless conspiracy theories. In the end, he realized he realized he was wrong to have not gotten it, and regretted that he was a denier. He relayed a heartfelt apology to us. I can only take comfort that he is with our brother Mike and sister Maggie, and our Mom and Dad and all his beloved friends and family who went before him.
I can only urge anyone out there who feels that they are impervious to any current or future strain of Covid that they must take this seriously. Covid does not care about your race, nationality, sex, politics or age, it only knows it can kill you. Our only defense is masking, social distancing and most of all getting vaccinated. The more of us who are vaccinated, the better the chance we can stop the next, worse, variant in its tracks. Otherwise the variants will get worse, and we cannot afford that, not in America, not in the whole world.
If I lose a few readers here for my stance here, that’s your choice. But because I love you all, I urge you to please take care and get vaccinated. I don’t want this to happen to you. Too many families have suffered losses from this preventable, frightening virus. I never thought that my family would become another statistic, but here it is.
Thank you, I’ll be back soon ❤
Here is a photo of my two brothers taken in 2009. John (left) and Michael. My heart will ache forever.
As you may recall from a recent post, I’m kind of having a rough year. In addition to losing a friend, my brother-in-law, and most recently, my oldest brother,(Mike) my family is now in the midst of another sad crisis. My only other brother, John, (I have 4 sisters) has been sickened with Covid, and he has been in the hospital for nearly two weeks now.
My friends, please say a little prayer for my brother. He recently turned 70, but we couldn’t visit him in the Covid ward, so we sent cards. He is now in ICU, and we are still hopeful, and we pray for his survival. Thank you.
I made this little meme, because I think we all have days like this. My best wishes to you, and please get vaccinated ❤
I just watched this last night, and it brought me such joy (and a few tears too).
Nichelle’s story is so remarkable, and there is so much more to her than the Uhura we all love. With her determination SHE was the key to blast open the doors to NASA and the space program to women and minorities; something that is totally (and thankfully) taken for granted today.
With recent and archived interviews, we learn of Nichelle’s journey from a young dancer and singer who performed with Duke Ellington, to actress and icon through Star Trek and through her greatest achievements in integrating NASA and promoting women and encouraging young people to truly employ their talents and truly reach for the stars.
Watching this, I felt I really knew Nichelle for the first time. I just wanted to hug her and say ‘Thank You!’. She is an inspiration for us all to achieve our dreams and make a difference in the world. Woman in Motion will touch your heart and mind with a message of hope. We need this now. This was released in 2019 and is now streaming on Paramount Plus.
Nichelle, thank you for ‘Flying us to the moon’. We love you. ❤
Gee, making my 90 Birthday Tribute to Mr. Nimoy is taking longer than I thought! I’m still combing through and choosing a million images to format into the piece! So many good pictures, and I find it a bit harder to get it all together. Maybe this is because I think I’m more emotionally invested in Mr. Nimoy that I ever was in Shatner. you know? Patience my friends!
Hope you’re al having a lovely spring week and getting some fresh air! Oh how I love Spring!
Spring is a time of rebirth and reflection. Yet, as I turn 60 at the end of this month, that milestone surely puts one’s time into perspective. As Michelangelo said “There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.”
Scanning the many images of Mr. Nimoy I’ve found, I can see that he nary let a moment go by wasted. Cliche as it may seem, life does seem to pass ever faster for me now. Just when I was getting used to being in my 50s too! I try to make my days useful and active, and I am determined to never take my health for granted. Speaking of which…
As I mentioned recently, I had taken an awful fall a few weeks ago, on Palm Sunday. And as I am pushing this birth milestone, it put me in mind of my own mortality. Here’s what happened:
I had been taking a lovely walk around town, taking lots of pictures of local sites and the industrial area around the old IBM complex here in Endicott NY. But only blocks from home my toe just hit some raised sidewalk and I could see myself falling in slow-motion. Tried to catch myself but to no use, and at the last second, my left temple hit the cement pavement. (Damn!) I rolled onto my back to catch my breath.
Thankfully, I was conscious throughout the whole ordeal, and, as good people are, within minutes two wonderful young men pulled over and helped me through the scary moments. There was Joey, who called my home, and Kyle, who had been in the military and knew all the right questions to ask and advice on what to watch for in the next 24 hours. So thankful for my ‘street angels’. They kept me calm until my family arrived.
An amazing ‘goose-egg’ evolved on my temple within minutes. About two inches big. My son drove me home to wash up then straight to the walk-in which was pretty much empty because of Covid. I had been wearing my mask the whole time, and had had my second vaccination a few weeks earlier, so I wasn’t too concerned. The fact that I was awake through the whole ordeal assured me that I didn’t have a concussion, which was the greatest of my fears. The goose egg lessened over the next few days, but boy, did I have a big purple-donut black eye that lasted just over two weeks. There’s just a tiny black and blue left as I write this; isn’t the human body grand?
The Amazing Goose-Egg
My Street Angels, Kyle and Joey
My darling son ready to take me home
As many of you know, I am not a constant blogger here; I usually post 3-4 times a month or less. I like posting about old Trek, making funny collages,and such. In many ways, my art and collages are a bit of a catharsis for me; they make me happy and if I make you smile, that’s good for me! I’ll be posting other interests too, like Old Movies, Costumes, Photography, Crafting, Some Pop Culture, and Travel. Not to mention a good book or two!
I hope I’m lucky to be around in 30 years when I hit 90! Sadly, Mr. Nimoy was taken too soon, but a life well lived carries on in hearts around the world. Meanwhile Shatner seems to be aging in reverse and I have to commend him for being one of the strongest Nonagenarians I know of; as well as beloved David Frankham! (95!)
So while I assemble my Nimoy collage, you may see things here off and on that have nothing to do with Trek, but hey, variety is the spice of Life! I’ll be posting those pre-stumble and fall pictures here shortly. Love to all, Therese. xo
We interrupt our usual Trekkie stuff to bring you some Weather news…
Well, as some of you know, I live in New York State, not too far from Binghamton, NY. As you may have heard we had quite a whopper of a snow storm (technically a “Nor’Easter”) tear through my area on Wednesday night! Binghamton NY had a record 40″ in a 24 hour period, at times falling 5″ and hour!! We even made the national news! It started lightly on Tuesday afternoon, but by Wednesday morning, we woke up to this:
BackyardFront stoopAbout 36″There’s two cars under here on the driveway (hedge in foreground) My brave husband! For reference he’s 6″2″. This was after I dug out 2/3rds of the front walk – note the height of the snow on the roof! Here’s my husband about to turn into the front walk to get the rest of what I dug out plowed! I got a bit spattered by the snow spray!! Our sons — we plowed so much we had to refill the snow blower! The snow atop the cars was almost as high as the cars themselves! Like digging out the Materhorn!
We were all pretty knocked out after all this snow work — it took about four hours!!
Wishing you a relatively safe and cozy winter season, and I hope we won’t see another one like this for a long time! But yeah…2020.
The past few days have been hard with the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I keep her spirit in my prayers, and although I am saddened, I still see a glimmer of hope on the horizon. I made this tribute collage for Ruth, and I dedicate it to all who pursue justice for ALL. Rest in Peace and Power, Ruth. Thousands of little girls will know you, and follow in your footsteps. Here’s to you, here’s to them. (If you share this, please do not remove my name from it, thank you.)
Well I don’t know how it initially happened but after some logging in and out, I figured out old password etc., I’m back baby!
Whew!
I think I’ll make my son an extra admin so this won’t happen again! I’ll have Caturday with Spock up in the next post later today! Thanks for you support!
Here’s to you, here’s to them. (If you share this, please do not remove my name from it, thank you.) 
TrekkerScrapbook 