Life on Mars?

I wonder if my boy will ever walk on Mars.
I say things aloud that no parent has ever said, like:
"you can be anything you want to be,"
and
"reach for the stars,"
and
other stuff I've made up like that.

And I think I mean it, but then I start adding asterisks, like:
"of course I want you to be an astronaut someday, but you have to promise me NOW that you'll never go on an interplanetary expedition longer than a week. So be all you can be, but just let NASA know up front that you promised your dad you couldn't be gone longer than seven days at a time."

Right now he has the curiosity of a billion Georges and I want to keep that going and support a life of discovery and adventure...

...I just need to know that he will always be safe and back home for the holidays. And I do mean every single holiday, including Polar Bear Day*, Russian Cosmonaut Day**, and National Comic Book Day***

I wonder if I will ever walk on Mars.


*February 27
**April 12
***September 25