'Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy Passes Away

Tragic news. The actor who played Spock on Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy, has died at age 83, according to the New York Times. Nimoy's wife, Susan Nimoy, confirmed the death and said the cause was the end stage of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The actor first said he had the disease last year, and said it was caused by many years of smoking, even though he had given up the habit 30 years earlier. It's a sad day for Star Trek fans everywhere, and of course, any science fiction lovers who idolized Nimoy.

After all, Nimoy had a hugely popular global following for his excellent portrayal of the human-alien officer who had a knack for logic. But acting wasn't his only talent. He was also well known for his talents in other arts, such as poetry. In fact, Nimoy published several entire books of poetry throughout his lifetime, including You and I, Warmed by Love, and A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life, some of which featured his original photography.

And it looks like those talents continued to shine through up until the very end. Now that he has sadly passed, fans will likely be sending tweet to his Twitter account in memoriam of his work. Hopefully, they will not pass by the last tweet he posted, since it is very poetic.

Wow. These are such deep words to convey in one's final days, especially considering how sick Nimoy was at the time. His comparison of life to a garden is a beautiful one, and is especially poignant now in retrospect. After all, life is all about growth, just like a garden. Think about it. From day one we are taught so many lessons about our own individual growth: growing up, growing out of certain stages of our life, and growing from our past experiences. But much like fragrant flowers or colorful vegetables and fruits in a garden, we will eventually all grow old too, and we will eventually have to leave the garden of life. It may be upsetting, since that serves as a reminder of our own mortality, but it is also a wonderful meditation on Nimoy's part about the power of memory.

Of course, it is sad that wonderful people will pass eventually. It is to be expected that there will be a large amount of pain felt by those who followed him as both Spock and as a poet. But much like we remember a flower in a garden before it wilts, we can still find joy in the preservation the memories of those that we love and those we look up to, just like Nimoy. And from the looks of his final tweet, it seems like that is what he would want us all to do.

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