Patrick Stewart

 I was nearing the end of my work day Thursday when I noticed something at the bottom corner of my computer screen:

"Breaking news: Patrick Stewart.."

I couldn't see the full headline but the sinking feeling in my stomach presaged what I was going to see.

"Breaking news: Patrick Stewart dead at age 86".

I know I said I was not going to say this anymore but my rage and my grief cannot be contained.

The WRONG people keep dying! 

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This one hits hard.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was a pivotal part of the early relationship for Andrea and myself when we were dating. Long before I introduced Andrea to Doctor Who, TNG was our jam.

And at the center of the shared experience was Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.

Whatever the merits or quality of any given episode, Stewart's talent always elevated the proceedings.  

Patrick Stewart was there at our beginning. To contemplate that he's now gone is hard to fathom.

I was particularly distressed to learn the cause of his death: Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.  

A man of such considerable talent and intelligence being brought low by so reprehensible a condition seems unconscionable to me.

Searching for mercy where we can find it, it seems the diseases ravaged him for a relatively short time before he died at his home, surrounded by loved ones. 

The loss of Patrick Stewart is a particularly hard one to process.

In the final frontier that awaits us all beyond this life, may God bless you, Patrick Stewart, and may you rest in peace.