This essay inspired me to comment for the first time to share The Time I Met LeVar. It was at a Star Trek convention (of course) and I brought a brand-new copy of "Keep The Lights Burning, Abbie" - brand new, because I read my childhood copy to shreds, as it was the only book I'd ever found with my very own name. I approached his desk with the portrait I'd shot with him the day before, and my book, and held it out while babbling about how he'd been the voice of my childhood and when my classmates made fun of me for preferring to read through recess instead of ...whatever they were doing, he was there to reassure me that it was OK to be a voracious reader.
And he looked at me, and in the kindest voice, said, "Oh, yeah, Abbie really wasn't a common name in the 80s at all, was it?" And took it from my hands and started inscribing it while I babbled, and handed it back to me and signed my picture, and said, "Read it."
His inscription? "The lights are always on for you, Abbie." And then he shook his hand and smiled at me, and it was like an angel from heaven had blessed me.
My best friend had to take me to the ladies' room and sit with me for the 20 minutes it took me to stop crying from sheer emotional overload. Then I called my mom and told her what happened, and she and I cried on the phone for another 20 minutes.
At his Q&A that weekend, he led a group sing-a-long of the Reading Rainbow theme. It was an absolute dream come true.