One of my earliest childhood memories

Was walking one cold night with my dad

Peering up into the dark sky between lots of twinkling stars

He pointed out a moving object streaking across the sky

Told me it was the Russian satellite called Sputnik1

The first ever satellite put into orbit

I honestly don’t remember if I actually saw it

But I can recall the intense excitement we shared

He loved technology and his stories sparked my imagination about space travel

A few years later Yuri Gagarin was first man in space

I was spellbound and wanted to learn everything about rockets 

Telling everybody I was going to be an astronaut when I grew up

Visions of myself wearing an oxygen mask with tubing at high altitude

The first manned moon landing was a very exciting time

I was fifteen years old the and already committed to be an engineer

Following every step on TV with baited breath

Later studying aerodynamics during my Mechanical Engineering degree

I finally understood the physics of rocket science and space travel

I never quite made it to piloting a rocket though

Marriage and a family became my priority over space travel

I entered the world of work and my career took off like a rocket

Flying millions of miles on passenger jets during 4 decades of Corporate life

Looking out of windows from 30,000 feet while sipping on cocktails and working on my laptop

Seeing many different terrains and vast unpopulated areas as I edited my Powerpoint presentations

I still had the urge to travel in space one day

Many years later I retired from corporate life and witnessed the start of commercial spaceflights

The mega wealthy paying huge sums to ride in orbit

Having to accept that I will never ride in space with those Billionaires

But I can still live my dream as a CPAPONAUT

Now I dress up in my own little spacesuit every night at bedtime

My CPAP machine has a long breathing tube

Connected to a full face mask strapped to my head

I can hear every breath through the mask

It feels like I am wearing a space helmet 

I close my eyes and think about being blasted into orbit

Soon I am fast asleep and dreaming of space travel

Orbiting high with my CPAP lifeline watching Sputnik1 and Apollo 11 fly by

My dad is there smiling with me

I parachute back to earth in my dreams before morning

Taking off my CPAP space helmet after re-entering earth’s atmosphere

I walk to the bathroom whispering to myself

That’s one small CPAPstep for man, one giant CPAPleap for mankind