That was a lot harder for me than it was for Diego. I choked over half the words while I told him that I would be going away on an important mission to the moon of Jupiter to look for life. The hardest part was finding the right way to word what I was doing so that he would understand while fighting back tears. When I really began to choke on my words Dad was sure to put his arm around me. In that moment, that support meant the world.
Of course, after I explained how long I would be away and the mission in a way my son would understand his big question was "can you bring me home a moon rock." Of course, I agreed. I felt sick to my stomach when Dad joked that the moon rock could be his high school graduation present.
Now that I have told Diego this feels incredibly real. Sure, for the past two months I have been preparing to ultimately leave him behind on Earth while I pursue this mission, but now that he knows the guilt that I will soon be leaving him has grown immensely.
Still, I know if I cry it will only alarm him, so I was strong for the entire dinner up until the end of the night where I carried him up into his bed. Then once I was back downstairs and I knew he was fast asleep I bawled my eyes out into my father's shoulder. He patted my back as I let it out for what must have been over an hour. It was as if I was eight years old. By the time I was done his entire right shoulder was drenched. To be honest though, letting it all out helped me feel a lot better. To Dad's credit, not once during my outburst did, he try to convince me not to go to Europa.
I really needed him to be my father, and like always he did.
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Europa
Ciencia FicciónIn order to embark on a mission to discover alien life on the icy moon of Jupiter Maria must leave her life on Earth behind, including her father and her seven-year-old son Diego. She thought the hardest part of the mission would be saying goodbye...
