Europa

August 15, 2048

Tomorrow, we have been cleared to begin the cryogenic sleep process. When I wake up from my long-frozen nap my son will be thirteen. I can't even wrap my mind around what he will look like. He's going to be a completely different person with so many new interests and passions. On one hand I am excited to see how he will grow up; on the other hand, I am dreading it.

I will not be there to guide him, to help him when life gets hard, or to even form new memories with him. I can't help but worry about whether he will forget me like I did my own mother.

I made sure to send an extended letter home today. I've had a lot of time to write it, considering there isn't much else to do here.

I hope as he grows up Diego will remember to read it when he's really missing me. I wish it was the other way around, where it was me living six years without him and the whole experience only feeling like one night for him.

It's going to be strange to see dad in six years. He's starting to get a few grey hairs and I'm wondering how many more he will have in six years.

I'm also a bit nervous about the cryogenic freezing process. Before this mission I didn't even know that this technology existed. According to the technicians, the way it works is gradual, inducing sleep and then slowly slowing your heart rate before freezing you until the thaw out date. Both the freezing and the thawing would take about two weeks, although they would only feel like a regular nap.

In a way it was like a Time Machine that allows you to fall asleep and wake up on a date you specified in the future. Unfortunately, in terms of a Time Machine it only allowed you to traverse time in one direction. Knowing I'll be losing 11 years with my son I really wish there was.

Apparently, while the cryogenic freezer is considered to be safe, there are a lot of side effects. One of the major ones is issues with blood flow, a persistent cough, severe headaches, and dry eyes. A lot of these symptoms seemed to stick with people for a while. Still, I didn't have a choice. Even if I didn't want to go into the cryogenic freezer I had to, as there was not enough food on the station to support me being conscious for an additional six years.

Hopefully everything goes well. I am looking forward to waking up and catching up with Diego and Dad. When I wake up again, I will be looking upon Jupiter, hundreds of millions of miles away from home.