Come here, sweet boy, and listen to my old stories. Every night when we turn on the stars in your room, and you watch them before falling asleep, all I can think of is the day I learned about comets.

We think of comets as a beautiful natural phenomenon, but what they are is much more important than that. They are gorgeous as we watch them float through the atmosphere, but please don't be fooled by their simple majesty. There is something far more meaningful behind the observation of a comet.

Let me tell you the story of the first time I saw a comet up close. Come snuggle up to your great-grandmother and let me tell you about the year we settled on Titan.

Many years ago, before the Unified Governments settled on this planet and Earth was still our home, I was part of a small test civilization for Titan. There was another group on Mars that was a rival for us. Their entire camp disappeared right after settlement. It was so mysterious that the U.G. didn't investigate. That was when we knew we had to survive; Titan was the only hope.

We were the Compatibility Camp, as we called it. We had to grow food and demonstrate that civilization could thrive here on Titan. Earth used to be hospitable, but decades and decades of pollution and environmental abuse caused the wealthiest to seek alternative homesteading.

That's what they called it back in those days: alternative homesteading. Such arrogance.

I was young, only ten years old at the time when my father came home and told us we were leaving my homeland. At first, I was angry! How dare he take me from my friends and the only life I've known! How dare he make this decision without asking me what I want!

The night he sat me down and explained his decision will be seared into my brain until well after I'm dead.

"Halley, we have to go. If not for my generation, then for your future."

His tone was different that day, and I decided to shut up about my friends and my belongings. There was something else happening in the universe, and I was asked to be a part of it.

I was the same age you are now. You spend your days with your friends and your gadgets; I was just like you once.

Shh... I know you don't want a story about death, but this is about so much more than that.

We had to build the settlements from scratch, and I was a young girl. I had to learn quickly how to assemble boards and metal and use power tools. I had never used a power tool in my life! Up until that point, my only experience with a motor had been a hair dryer!

I'll never forget celebrating my eleventh birthday in an air shaft. There was a breach that morning from debris, and they shoved me and two other kids into an air shaft for our safety while they repaired the damage. We were in there for hours before someone rescued us. That night, my father came to my room and sang songs from my childhood. The music that had been popular before we left Earth. In many ways, we weren't disappointed about our living conditions.

We learned. We survived. Many of us found a calling in the isolation and the sense of community. The day-to-day could be quite scary, but it was manageable.

We lived in the original camp, and we worked hard to survive on Titan. Not many people managed to survive of our original group. Conditions were harsh while the settlements were temporary. Resources were low. Several of the older scientists and professors did not survive our first year on Titan.

Every time one of them passed on, we would walk them to the edge of the camp and allow them to float into the universe. We prayed. We shared stories. We hoped that their sacrifices would be worthwhile.

It is so funny to think of how much we cling to our religions and our rituals when it comes to pain. Comfort is quirky like that.

I did these acts of honor and reverence many times before it was someone whom I loved that I had to let go. Eventually, though, my father was one of the ones who passed on. My mother and I walked him to the edge of the camp. I cried as I held his hand. I cried as I let him go. I cried more than I have ever cried that day.

As we let him drift away from camp, and I watched him leave me forever, I noticed something I had never observed before. As he disappeared from my field of vision, a bright light appeared. He transformed in front of all of us. He turned into a beautiful memory for all of us to witness.

I watched him turn my sadness into something I could keep along with my treasured memories like the day he gave me my first doll to the day he taught me how to plant seeds.

My father taught me about survival and the necessity of invention. It is only fitting that his last act was a moment of grace and beauty.

That original camp became a myth on Titan. No one believed what we experienced in order to survive. Legend has it that the comets are what happens are the spirits of those we've loved and lost coming to watch over us. If you see a comet, tonight or fifty years from now, just remember what you're watching is more than ice warming as it approaches the sun, it's probably Nana or Bop watching over you. Eventually, it will be me watching over you, and every night when you look up at the sky, take a moment to see us greeting you with our tails and our light.

Say hello back into the universe.