勇敢的人未必永远活着，但胆怯的人从未活过。

我昨晚被一个视频感动了。看！那个总是仰望星空怀抱梦想的人，满怀激情地飞向星空拥抱星星，就像是一团永远燃烧的火焰，让一切在凡尘打滚的人都黯然失色。

上个月11号（July 11, 2021）, 还差7天就满71岁的Richard Branson 布兰森乘坐着自己公司的太空飞机和以他的母亲Eva命名的航空母舰飞向太空边缘。这个名为地球上最疯狂的玩的就是心跳的亿万富豪，这并不是他第一次为了拥抱梦想而无惧拥抱死亡。。。1986年他已经驾驶自己公司的大西洋挑战号以最快的速度横渡大西洋；1997年，47岁的布兰森进行了历时35小时的热气球成为世界上第一个穿越大西洋旅行的人，期间燃料系统出了故障、气球坠毁在撒哈拉沙漠但大难不死，第二年又继续乘上新设计的热气球进行环球旅行。61岁时，用风筝冲浪的方式穿越英吉利海峡。。。

他说：如果你不做梦，你将一事无成。

什么才算是活着？年龄算什么？那些怀抱梦想拥抱星空的人，就像是神一样的非凡存在，他们的光芒照亮了后来的寻梦者。

看看布兰森在飞向梦想的星空之前，给已经在半年前去世的母亲Eva Branson写的信吧：

“亲爱的母亲，你总是教我去摘星星。我一路崎岖地走着自己的路，但从未脱离您的指引。您总是把我们推向我们的极限。

当我还是个孩子时，您把我抛出离家好几里的车外，让我自己找到回家的路。您让我跳进河里，要么沉下去要么游上来。

您和父亲教会我和姐妹们独立自主，用既严厉又温柔的方式爱着我们。

您自己就总是一个探险家。穿着男孩子的衣服学习滑翔机飞行，在二战时入伍，战后去德国跳芭蕾舞。勇敢地在新创的航空公司飞行在危险的航线上。

。。。您把每一天都当成一个探索的机会。

。。。母亲，我们的母航携带着您的名字，她将承载着下一代的梦想者飞向天空。

您一直都是个梦想家。您敦促我要为每一个机会奋斗，要追逐每一个最狂野的梦，让自己的人生无比丰盈。

好吧，勇敢的人可能不会永远活着，但胆怯的人从未活过。

您是怎样地活过、怎样地爱过、又是怎样地被人怀念着啊！

爸爸总是说：“人生很美妙，不是吗？”您俩向我们证明了，是的！”

====

'Dear mum, you always told me to reach for the stars. Well, I took my own winding road but I always knew to follow your lead. You always pushed us to our limits. 

When I was a child, you threw me out of the car miles from our house and urged me to find my own way home. You let me jump into a river to sink or swim. 

You and Dad taught me and my sisters independence and loved us with fierceness and tenderness. 

You were always an adventurer. You took glider lessons dressed as a boy, enlisted during World War Two. Toured Germany as a ballet dancer after the war. You flew treacherous routes as intrepid cabin crew for Start Up Airlines. 

You took us into the great unknown on family holidays. You treated every day as a chance to explore. 

Before the word existed, you were always an entrepreneur. You helped make ends meet by creating your own small businesses. You showed me how to grow a company, how to treat people, how to be creative, how to balance work and play, how to live. 

You were always a romantic. You and Dad showed Joan and me the way to build a life filled with humour and heart, hope and humility, honesty and happiness. You showed us the value of kindness, the magic of laughter, the beauty of music and the joy of family. 

You were always my guiding light of Virgin Galactic. You share with me that the day we named our mothership the MSE was one of your happiest. 

You always knew Eve would start my journey to space one day. Just as I always knew you would do the impossible for me. 

Well, mum,  our mothership carries your name, will carry the next generation of dreamers into space.

You were always a dreamer. You urge me to strive for every opportunity I saw. You told me to chase my wildest fantasies and to live life to the full. 

Well, the brave may not live forever. But the cautious do not live at all. 

How you lived, how you loved and how you are missed. 

Dad always said "isn't life wonderful" and you both showed us it was. Always.' 

Eva Branson: