gusgrissom:

I love this so much!! So cool to see Jewish astronauts celebrating our holidays in space :) Happy Hanukkah, friends! 🚀🕎

How the Cavalry helped me: My Love Note to Ming Na and Melinda May

I am so damn excited to meet Ming on Saturday and finally chat with her ! So I wrote this love letter to her in case i didnt know what to say! So I thought I’d share it with you guys cause i lover writing it x33 ENJOY

Dearest Ming,

Whether you are reading this during or after we meet, I would like to say I am so happy after two quick encounters at previous AOS events I finally got a one to one with you! But sometimes I get absolutely excited due to anxiety and I cannot get the right words out, so I thought i would write a letter so I can elaborate what you and Melinda May mean to me.

I live with a mental illness. When I was a child I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. And with all Mental Illness, I had my good days and I had my bad days. And I also had days where traumas hit me like a ton of Bricks. It took me awhile to accept who I am and know these things happen and you have to keep pushing forward. I started accepting that my anxiety was a part of me when I met the ever so wise Carrie Fisher and she told me I was badass because I’m able to forge through even though my brain told me I can’t. It’s because of that I looked up to her as a constant presence to tell me to keep going. So when she died, as you can imagine it was like for everyone else a punch in the face and all the more devastating while I at times look to Carrie in times of crisis, I didn’t have the constant presence telling me to keep moving forward. So it left me time to think about the other people I look up to and how much they mean ro to me.

Which is where you and Melinda come in.

Looking back I have been a Mingiling since I was 7 even though I didn’t realize it. I lost my mind at the Mulan Trailer and absolutely adored the movie still do. I loved how Mulan kicked ass and was different from the Disney Princess norm. So it was no surprise 16 years later I loved Melinda May immediately upon seeing her. But getting to know you, the person behind the role, made me an instant fan, you are funny, absolutely relatable when it comes to geekdom, and love your fans. But it didn’t really hit me how much of an inspiration you were and how important you are to me until I was faced with the loss of a hero.

As I began to look for the new constant presence you were the first person I thought of because of your name would be one of if not first to pop up when I say my favorite actresses, and it really got me thinking how much Melinda and You really helped me with my mental illness.

Melinda, if you come to think about it is a Mental Illness warrior in her own right. Bahrain left her with PTSD and it affected her work, her daily life and her relationships. You see her go through stages of depression, puts the blame on herself a lot, and at times feels anxiety as well. But I got ro see two special things with Melinda which really spoke to me. One we got ro see Melinda convey her emotions and then get up and kick ass. Two we got to see Melinda learn to live with her trauma and eventually open up. We see her develop relationships with Daisy and Fitzsimmons in a mentor sort of way and even found love again with Phil. Melinda made made so comfortable in my skin and also taught me to keep moving forward. It also told me if Melinda can concur her fears after the trauma she went through….so can I!

And then there’s you Ming. You convey the one thing that people like me need. Optimism. You share your good days, you share your bad days, you approach everything with a Joke and a smile. And you are willing to share it with the world. You managed to keep forging forward. I find positivity to be the most important thing to help me through my mental lows and to see someone like you being happy and sharing your life in this dark world is incredible, it helps keep my positivity in times of crisis.

What I mean to say in all this is having you and Melinda to look up to, became my constant to know I am going to be okay and I would like to thank you for that. Thank you for telling me to move forward, thank you for telling me to face my fears and most of all thank you for being you!!!

You are a hero just like Carrie and Princess Leia! I am so grateful to have you!!

It is so awesome getting the chance to meet you three times! And I hope we get many more!

Love from the bottom of my Heart,

Nor