It’s been... Hard feels too light of a word. I appreciate that Starfleet is doing everything that they can to bring Voyager home, and don’t get me wrong. The fact that I’ve been able to talk to Samantha and my daughter...

Naomi.

It’s wonderful. More than wonderful. I thought that I had lost her for so long. Then a few years back I hear that not only is she alive but I have a happy and healthy daughter?

But. It’s tough. I, we always wanted a family. But this isn’t what either of us had in mind. It must set some kind of record for long distance relationships in the Federation.

But I’m not able to be there for her. I didn’t even know she was alive until she was almost 2 years old and with her, by your human standards, accelerated growth. I’m missing out on the foundational years of her life. Her godfather is able to be more of a paternal figure to her than me...

Apparently she’s quite the little troublemaker though, and smart to boot! Sam tells me she’s too smart. She’s already figured out that she can stay out past her bedtime if she hides her combadge somewhere.

Apparently my letter to her a few years ago sparked an interest in her Ktarian heritage. Sam sent through some pictures of her in the last data stream with a model she built of this very planet!

I couldn't be prouder of her...

But with us now being able to communicate with Voyager every month, I almost called it a day for the support group. Truth be told, a lot of people drifted away after the first anniversary gathering on DS9. The second gathering was in this very room... As you may be able to tell from the size of it. It wasn’t very big. But I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together, I like to think we persuaded Starfleet not to give up on the search for another few months back in the day.

Nothing like it existed when Voyager first went missing. The Federation had resources for those of us affected of course, but it was all very... Sterile. By the numbers. You had a message from one admiral or another, then you’d be given leave if you were in Starfleet, or worked on a Federation installation to ‘process your grief’. Then of course there was the ‘standard issue’ coping with loss manual. Giving details of all the counselling and other forms of therapy that were available to us. It worked for a few, it didn’t work for more.

Like Voyager, we were all lost that first year. Whether it was intentional or not Starfleet’s way of dealing with these situations tended to isolate people, rather than bring them together. They encouraged people to turn to their own friends and family, rather than to reach out to those experiencing the same loss. Misery loves company wasn’t something that was really understood, let alone encouraged and you had to actively choose to engage with their support systems. Which as anybody who has experienced grief will tell you is often the last thing you want to do.

You might argue that it’s not really Starfleet’s place... Starfleet would definitely agree.

That’s why I decided to take matters into my own hands. I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I was able to use the Federation communications network to reach out to family and friends of those that were onboard when Voyager went missing and though I didn’t realise it at the time. Started something that has now become much bigger than me. Even though it forced me to give up my Starfleet career, I have no regrets.

Now just as our friends and families are working together on the other side of the galaxy to get home. We’re back here, lifting each other up. We make sure that wenever give up hope. Even if it is touch and go every now and then... Especially for me. The monthly communication helps... It really helps. Almost makes you forget that they’re still decades away. Even if just for a moment...

When we got that first message that they were alive a few years ago. Everyone changed and not just within the group. I’d say across the Federation! We were wrapped up in the Dominion War and I don’t think they could have asked for a better good news story than finding out that a ship that almost everyone had given up on was still alive, halfway across the galaxy. I certainly couldn’t have.

After that, We started up the yearly gatherings again. Only now we commemorate the day that we heard they were alive.

Our membership is growing as well, we’ve expanded beyond just those that know people on Voyager. Sam’s ship wasn’t the only Starfleet vessel to go missing, even before the war... And so many from the war are still unaccounted for.

I’m proud of what we’ve built and what we’re still building. With all these new people joining has come renewed interest, and a lot more resources from Starfleet and the Federation. We even considered renaming ourselves a while back.

But Voyager is still out there and the core of what we started out to do still revolves around Sam’s ship.

Hopefully more ships will turn up in the coming years, or at least we will find out what happened to them.

As an engineer called Davey Honingsberg might tell you, it’s often the lack of closure that hurts the most.