Ross-154

What is so special about the star, Ross-154, named after the astronomer Frank Elmore Ross who discovered it back in 1925, that I see fit to bring it to your attention today? It is located in the constellation Sagittarius, and is the seventh closest star to our own Sun. And even that doesn’t make it all that remarkable.

If you happen to look up at the night sky tonight and catch a glimpse of this star, you’re not seeing the star as it exists today, but rather, you’re looking back into the past. In fact, this star is over nine light years from our planet… meaning that the particular sparkle in the sky that shines out from Sagittarius tonight actually comes from the year 2000.

It is a reflection of a moment in time that holds particular importance to me, for on this date, nine years ago, I was standing in front of friends and family, waiting for my fiancée, Sara, to walk down the aisle and join me, not just for the day, but from that day forward – to become my wife.

The nine years since then have had their high points and low points, as most marriages do… but we are still together – a little bit older, sure, but also stronger for the journey together.

Although the actual day of our wedding travels further and further behind us as the years go on, the smile on my wife’s face, the happiness that I felt that day, and that I still feel today – it still exists, and hasn’t grown the least bit dimmer for the passage of time.

Just as the light from Ross-154 will surely reach the Earth tonight, as brightly as ever, the love I have for my wife continues to burn brightly after all these years.

Happy Anniversary, Sara! Nine years down, and forever to go… I love you!