My search for life on other planets kept me going when my husband died

[Judi Lynn]

For Sara Seager, star-gazing offered a sense of perspective when tragedy struck

Sara Seager
Sun 20 Sep 2020 07.00 EDT

Fifteen years ago, I started my job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an astrophysicist and planetary scientist, my job is to search for alien life. Not little green humanoids like ET, but signs of life on planets orbiting other stars. Every star is a sun and if our sun has planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, etc) it makes sense that other stars have planets also – and they do. We already know of thousands of stars that have planets. There are billions of stars in our galaxy making the possibilities “out there” huge and wondrous.

Back then, I had the perfect life: a great career; my dream home, a pretty yellow Victorian house; two adorable toddlers; and a loving husband.

But my husband Mike, a robust 45-year-old, suddenly had a series of nagging stomach aches that rapidly worsened. The doctors ignored his concerns, holding off on critical tests as the months passed. Mike ended up in the hospital emergency room with a complete intestinal blockage.

Over the next several weeks and months we had bad news at every turn. Mike needed surgery. The blockage was cancer which had been found in his lymph nodes and was ready to spread. Two different chemotherapy regimens failed and Mike was now terminally ill.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/sep/20/my-search-for-life-on-other-planets-kept-me-going-when-my-husband-died

[Polly Hennessey]

1. That was interesting.

After a few stumbles things started falling into place for her. Her innate optimism helped. I agree with her that looking at the universe and hoping to find life out there can only be done by the optimistic.