ATTN JMS: Londo Mollari, G'Kar, and my grandmother

Sat Jan 31 06:12:16 EST 1998

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From: Jen Kindinger <jlk6 at acpub.duke.edu>
Date: 29 Jan 1998 22:06:58 -0700
Lines: 122

Semi-Spoilers for "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari" follow...

Dear Sir,
	One hour before "Babylon 5" aired Wednesday night, I was 
notified that my much-loved paternal grandmother had died earlier that 
day of a heart attack.  Despite this terrible news, I watched "Babylon 5" 
that night.  It is one of the joys in my life, a wonderful television 
show, and I felt that not only would the continued presence of this show 
and the friends with whom I watch it help me remain sane, but that since 
it is something I enjoy so much my grandmother would have wanted me to 
continue watching it.  However, the impact of the particular episode that 
aired that night, "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari", went far beyond 
that.

	The characters of Londo Mollari and G'Kar have been through far 
more these past five years than a normal person could endure.  They have 
withstood personal and political tragedies almost beyond comprehension.  
Throughout their story, constant underneath the highs and the lows, is a 
constant theme of redemption.  Both need it for themselves, both seeks 
some sign of regret from the other as an indication that the other has 
been redeemed and is repentant.  G'Kar, who has already faced his demons 
and turned his life into a force for good, sees the deeper truths 
underneath this.  He sees the need for each of us not only to own 
up to our mistakes, but the obligation and responsibility we have to try 
and prevent those mistakes from happening.  Perhaps also, the importance not 
of a life lived in avoidance of regret, but a life lived in pursuit of 
what is right and just.  Londo is just beginning to understand these 
things, but now that the realization is growing in him, the possibility 
of a sort of reconciliation between himself and G'Kar is also growing.  
That this could happen, after so much pain and regret has passed between 
them, speaks very powerfully to the redeeming power of life itself.  Life 
seeks the hard answers to the hardest questions we face, because it is 
only those answers that can bring any sort of final and fulfilling 
solution.  The force of life searches for the better angels in all of us, 
compelling us to try to be nobler and greater than we thought possible.  
No matter if we are doomed to fail, no matter the cost to ourselves, it 
is the calling of all of our hearts to try.  

	This message is a powerful one, and there was perhaps no better 
moment in my life to date for me to hear it.  I would eventually have 
gone searching for some general positive statements about life, to 
reassure myself that my grandmother's life had meaning and purpose, and 
that those things can remain in my life now that she is gone.  This show 
has always been optimistic and life-affirming, but perhaps it has never 
been clearer to me than it was that night.  The messages of redemption, 
forgiveness, and the importance of living your life according to the 
dictates of your conscience, have touched me deeply.  I think if there 
was anything that my grandmother, and all my other relatives who have 
taken a hand in shaping me, truly wanted to teach me it was these 
things.  But they have never found the way to express this to me.  My own 
sorrows only partially illuminated them.  But in a little under two years 
of watching this show, they have become clear.  

	The affirmation and optimisim that your show has given to me has 
been of great comfort to me in this time of grief.  I wish I could 
explain this to the others around me who are sorrowful, but I too cannot 
find the right words.  This episode alone would not teach them, and I 
doubt some of them would still not understand if I showed them the entire 
series.  So I will try to be an example.  I will try to live up to my 
responsibilities, to follow my conscience, not to be a silent witness, 
and to never lose faith in the power and strength of life.  I cannot say 
that I will live up to these promises.  I am not perfect.  But I am 
obligated to try.  I owe that to my grandmother, to myself, and to every 
other sentient being in this universe.  And I would like to thank you and 
every other person even remotely affiliated with this show, for all their 
work.  It has made a deep and lasting impression on my life.

Thank You All,
Jennifer

*****************************************************************************
*	    Jennifer L. Kindinger           * Class of 1999, Cameron Crazie,*
*	       Duke University              * Babylon 5 Addict, MCEB and NP,*
*    http://www.duke.edu/~jlk6/index.html   *   X-Phile, DU Chapel Choir,   *
*					    * History Major, Classics Minor,*
*	"Faith manages."  -Babylon 5        *  Future Lawyer and Historian, *
*				            *    democrat and republican,   *
*"This above all, to thine own self be true,*   Overworked, Overstressed,   *
* And it must follow as the night the day   *   Underfed, Underpaid, and    *
* Thou canst not then be false to any man." *        UNDERESTIMATED!        *
*			-Hamlet		    *                               *
***************************************************************************** 

*****************************************************************************
*	    Jennifer L. Kindinger           * Class of 1999, Cameron Crazie,*
*	       Duke University              * Babylon 5 Addict, MCEB and NP,*
*    http://www.duke.edu/~jlk6/index.html   *   X-Phile, DU Chapel Choir,   *
*					    * History Major, Classics Minor,*
*	"Faith manages."  -Babylon 5        *  Future Lawyer and Historian, *
*				            *    democrat and republican,   *
*"This above all, to thine own self be true,*   Overworked, Overstressed,   *
* And it must follow as the night the day   *   Underfed, Underpaid, and    *
* Thou canst not then be false to any man." *        UNDERESTIMATED!        *
*			-Hamlet		    *                               *
***************************************************************************** 

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 30 Jan 1998 07:19:18 -0700
Lines: 12

Thank you for saying all of that; if we can be witnessses for hope, for the
possibility of joy and dignity, to one another, then there's a chance for *all*
of us.

And my sincerest condolences on your loss.  From your comments and
observations, I think she did a great job, and you should be proud.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
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