jana_denardo

I was born in the second season. Mom had a rerun of the show on in the room she was in before they wheeled her into the delivery room to have me. I'm probably lucky I'm not named Uhura or Christine. I've met most of the original class with a few exceptions at conventions. I have a Universal remote shaped like a phaser (and considering one shaped like a sonic screwdriver but that's a discussion for another day).

I got to listen to Gene Roddenberry once and met Majel Barret when they had the exhibit in the Smithsonian. Heck I spent an entire day of my Vegas vacation for my 40th birthday doing nothing but riding the rides at the Star Trek exhibit and eating/drinking at Quark's.

The above picture is from The Naked Time (for those not as geeky as I). How could I not fall in love with a man who looked like that? I still love and admire George Takei, especially for his activism (all of it really, gay rights, bringing us a reminder of the dark times of the concentration camps. My best friend growing up, her mother was in one when she was a child). While I'm not gay myself, I am all for equality and the acknowledgement that love is love (which is probably obvious given what most of my writing is about).

I'm not sure I would have become an author if not for Star Trek. I wrote fanfic for it before I was even in the fifth grade. I was shameless in my love for Spock and Sulu. Some forty years later, that love is unwavering.

I think in many ways what I really took away from Star Trek growing up was Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future, a world, no many worlds, where race and gender didn't matter. A world where people took you as you were. In this place, science was a guiding light. In a time of turbulence in the real world, it showed a brightness that could be achieved by cooperation and understand and not war and conquest. If he had his way, women would have been shown as strong and able as we really are (too bad the station executives wouldn't go for it). It was universe that positively glowed with acceptance and understanding for all people. We are not that universe yet. Maybe we never will be but I believe that dreamers like Mr. Roddenberry show us the way, the what might be and I am grateful for that.

Happy Birthday, first love, and here's to many more.