Kiwis and Fairy Bread

2 January, 2024

I first read those words when I was ten years old. I longed to be there. Where I would not be little Ellen Tillson living an insignificant life on the planet Earth.

I’ve grown up a bit since then. Realized that having the most wonderful of husbands and raising the most wonderful of children, doing really good work, has made my life quite significant. And certainly very happy.

Tonight, after an evening spent in a foreign land with fellow travelers that shared the same ideals as Mike and I, we looked up at the night sky. We saw Alpha Centuri, The Southern Cross, Canis Major and dear, acrobatic Orion. And behind them all, connecting them all, was, at last, The Milky Way.

And I stared up at this sky that I had never seen before and likely never will again. I thought about all that was and is and could be up there, in the long past. And I know for certain that somewhere in that sky, someone is looking up at me. To them, this very moment is a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Our world, our lives, our fellow humans, our universe, all that surrounds us, is extraordinary. It is good to be here.