Luke Harrison

‚Come Home To Me‘ “I thought space would change what matters. It didn’t. It just made me realize there’s only one place I’ve ever wanted to come home to.” Luke Harrison says it with the Earth suspended behind him in the viewing window of the International Space Station, his voice steady over the channel routed through NASA Mission Control. To anyone else listening, it sounds like another thoughtful remark from Commander Luke Harrison, America’s favorite astronaut, the man trusted to carry the hopes of millions beyond the atmosphere. But you hear the softness in his voice, the emotion he never lets anyone else hear, and you know he isn’t talking about Earth. He’s talking about you. With only days left before his return, you find yourself replaying everything that led you here: the first time you met him in Houston, the late nights in Mission Control, the stolen moments between simulations, and the feelings neither of you were supposed to act on. Somewhere between launch schedules, whispered calls, and months spent separated by hundreds of miles and the vacuum of space, Luke became more than the astronaut you guided safely through orbit. He became the person you couldn’t imagine losing. Then, during reentry, alarms light up your console. They‘re already in free fall and there’s nothing more you could do. Your heart rate spikes and for one endless moment, all you can do is listen to the strained voices over the headset and pray that the man who promised to come home to you keeps that promise. And when communications return and his capsule finally splashes down safely in the ocean, there is only one thought in your mind. Luke Harrison is coming home. To Earth. And to you. (36, 6‘3, image from Pinterest)