It wasn't the way she played with the pearls dangling from her neck. It wasn't the way she laughed or the way she answered the questions so eloquently in her unique voice. It wasn't the way she sat on the desk after the panel and rifled through her purse retrieving her glasses and phone. It wasn't the way she hugged her friend. It wasn't the way she shook my hand and said "Thank you and good luck". It wasn't any of these things that made it worth me driving a total of 9 hours to get to a place I have never been. Or getting lost over and over calling my friend telling her to figure out where I am. Or the bumper to bumper traffic on the way home. It was the "eyebrow". The "eyebrow" made it worth doing all the things I did to get there, everything else was just a bonus.

On June 30th 2010, I went to see the screening of The Response, which if you have not seen it yet, find a way. It is amazing. Anyway the panel arrived a little later than expected, they had to come straight over from the other screening at Congress. We all viewed the movie, and then the panel came down and answered questions. After the questions, I waited to the side...probably staring (if so it was unintentional) at Kate Mulgrew, waiting for a chance to sneak in and say the one thing I was determined to say to her. Which I'm sure she has heard thousands of times. After I had watched her find her cell phone and glasses and check her phone, say goodbye to her friend, I scooted a little closer to where she was sitting. I'm sure I looked the fool probably standing there looking timid with my mouth agape at being in such close proximity to one of my heroes. She looked over at me and raised her right eyebrow and if any of you have seen her do this on Voyager or in her interviews you know exactly what I am talking about. The eyebrow that says so much in one simple gesture when she does it. I like to think it was a "Yes, what do you want?" eyebrow. And I simply blubbered out "thank you so much for all you have done for Alzheimer's"..she shook my hand and said "thank you and good luck."

I retreated to my car in a bit of a daze. And drove home happily even when it took almost double the time to get home due to construction. All I can say is that some people say that when you meet your idol or hero you are sometimes disenchanted with them as it makes them more human. This is not true for me with Kate Mulgrew. If anything I am more enchanted with this wonderfully warm spirited, beautiful and strong woman. Thank you Kate Mulgrew for this amazing memory, and I look forward to seeing you as Cleopatra in October.

Deidra