My Childhood Hero, Goodbye

I need to do this because I've been holding it off for ages, but it needs to be done.
Sir Patrick Moore died 9th December 2012, but only now have I been able to let go.

Whether you're familiar with the name Sir Patrick Moore or not, you only need to know that he was a brilliant, truly astounding man.
When I was but a young child, the only thing I'd talk about was space, stars and supernovas. And wanting to be the first woman on Jupiter. I'd watch - and still do - watch countless programmes on TV and read so many space books to do with anything remotely out of this world. Space is where my mind is set free because it's a potentially infinite unknown that allows for the most creative imaginations to run wild. I've always been an imaginative child, and I guess the only thing that could quench my thirst for beauty, astoundingness and mystery was the vast vacuum of space and what - or wasn't - in it.
(No wonder I got so attached to Doctor Who from a young age.)
But before Doctor Who, there was Sir Patrick Moore. I'd watch every single episode of "The Sky At Night" with such interest and curiosity, because Moore was who I wanted to be. I wanted to be someone who lives for space, with a cool monocle and a suave TV show just so I could study what I loved.
Only recently, I discovered that he'd freely let people visit his observatory. If I'd have known back then, I'd have lived there. I've always wanted my own observatory.
But watching "The Sky At Night" allowed me to start to understand the mysterious flickers of light in the sky. And with my first telescope one Christmas, I was able to see things I could never have dreamed of, and however small to a practised astronomer, it was - and always will be - a fascinating thing for me.
I've read a lot of Moore's books, and although there's still so much more to read, I still wait to read everything else with the thirst for knowledge of a...Doctor...?
I've always enjoyed finding Doctor Who references in his books too. And when he turned up in Doctor Who in 2010 for "The Eleventh Hour", no-one could wipe the smile off my face.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Sir Patrick had influenced my childhood very much, and without him, I wouldn't be who I am today. He taught me so much, and the fact that I've never been able to tell him this...it kills me inside.

He was the first person I ever wanted to meet. I guess...it was never meant to happen.

Sir Patrick Moore, I will miss you with all my hearts, and I can never express how much I've loved your work. I know I'm not the only astronomer you've influenced, but the chance to meet you would have been amazing, so somehow, somewhere, if you're reading this...

Thank you. And it's all I can do to say goodbye because I will definitely miss you, and I can only hope we will meet sometime in a place after life, surrounded by the cats we both love.

Until the next time.

~Your adoring fan and #1 apprentice, Eve Bethany Sheen.