[Ben Lahnger]

When I was growing up, my Mom was really, REALLY into Star Trek. She was a Trekker or Trekkie or whatever you want to call it well before the term caught hold. The original Star Trek series largely gained popularity with college students in the early 70's when it went into syndication, but she was all over the show when it first premiered in 1966 ... she even kept the first TV Guide with Trek on the cover.

My Dad is a mostly sober and serious man who grew up on a farm and collects stamps. He never saw the sense of the show or of her ever increasing collection of Star Trek memorabilia. He doesn't have much interest in fiction, except that he used to like watching westerns like Gunsmoke. Over the years he has mellowed a bit, such as recognizing that her Star Trek collection may be worth much more than his stamp collection.

And one time when they traveled to Universal Studios at Orlando, Mom convinced him to appear with her in a "Film Your Own Star Trek Adventure" production there ... Mom got dressed as the Captain and Dad dressed appropriately as the cool and logical Spock. I still have a copy of the video they paid for that day ... Spock (er, Dad) got the drop on the Klingons by dropping a boulder on one of them. It seems un-Spock-like, I know, but Universal wrote the script and they both had fun. But Dad still thinks the show is silly.

Anyway, flash forward to today. My Mom went into the hospital on Wednesday for major surgery. It went very well and she recovered quickly. So my Dad sent me an email explaining that my Mom has been moved to a rehabilitation center where they will monitor her condition and engage her in rehabilitation exercises. He gave me the number to her room and the number to the nurses station. He said I can call the nurses station for updates on her medical condition, but I have to tell them the password before they are allowed to share any information about her.

The password my Dad chose? "StarTrek"

I can't tell you how much that little gesture means to me or what emotions ran through me when I read it. But I can say it brought tears to my eyes.