Apogee

   A Few weeks ago, as I aimed my camera toward a rapidly darkening sky, a white streak raced across the heavens. This streak was not some celestial body on its orbital commute across the sky. It was the International Space Station, traveling at 17,000mph, roughly 260 miles above the Earth.

   This marvel of human achievement is something that, sadly is often overlooked. This despite the fact that countless, and I do mean countless hours of blood, sweat and tears went into its construction. The fact that it the Space Shuttle Columbia paved the way for its construction should not be forgotten. Nor should the fact that on this very day, ten years ago, Columbia and her crew did not return safely to Earth.

   To many, they are just names. Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla,  Michael P. Anderson, Laurel B. Clark and Ilan Ramon. But to many more, hopefully a great many, they are remembered as they should be, legendary heroes. Sure they may not have battled the forces of evil. They may not have fought crime or fires. But they did something that is just as, if not far more important.

   They were dreamers. They looked at the reality of a situation and said, "there's another way, a better way. A fun way." They didn't see problems, they say chances for improvement. The box we sometimes live in? They shattered it. They, and the many, many others who dare to dream, dare to hope for better, dare to give us the chance to make possible the impossible, make real the imaginary. 

   For the longest time, many people have accused me of "not thinking in reality.", of being a "dreamer" and for a brief while, I let those people convince me that "their way" was the "right way." Turns out they were wrong. I am a dreamer, and you know what? I love it. I'm better for it. I don't want to be confined to the box of normal everyday drudgery, I want to be in the box of six year old me...when the box was a space ship or a submarine.

   Dreams exist for reason. To let us know that as dreary as life can get, we always have the power to make it better. Be it a Kansas cornfield or the depths of the Atlantic, you should follow the dream...wherever it may take you. In the end, you will become a stronger person for it.

   Whether or not you believe in the space program, believe in this: A decade ago, seven people went took a journey outside of the grip of our atmosphere, into the cold unforgiving black just so that you, me, all of us could have a chance to make our lives better. Is this a sacrifice we really want to forget? Chase your dreams, for our dreams our the key to our happiness. 

   The dream of happiness is something we all have. And just like the journey these legends took, it is not one of ease, but then again, nothing worth having is easy. You have to fight for it, just like they did. 

There is a plaque at a launch complex on the grounds of Kennedy Space Center memorializing another group of Astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice, and on it, is the inscription, "Ad Astra Per Aspera", which is Latin for "A Rough Road Leads To The Stars"

   So while the road may be rough, the stars along the way are more then worth the journey.