And, if this summer has taught me anything, I am content (because I have to be) living in this limbo, this seemingly endless waiting for the opportunity to change, when really the opportunity exists within our very selves all along.

My hopes have always been to live in a brighter and better generation, where women are respected around the world, human rights are respected and last but not least where animals and mother nature is cared for by us individuals.

As I sit here and write to you, I’d like to share with you something more horrifying than a few boos – our current home, Earth.

Muita Coragem e força para você enfrentar todos os desafios que virão, pois são com eles que crescemos.

See people can say they care about climate change, but caring is not action.

I don’t know your name
or even if you’re alive,
but I’m doing all I can
to make sure you survive.

I’m your great- great grandmother
who lived a century ago
in a world far different
from the one you must know.

More than getting through a global pandemic that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives around the world, our true feat is even larger: to secure our long-term health and the health of the ecosystems upon which we depend for life. To do that, we have to cut our emissions in half in the next ten years, and continue to reduce it beyond that. And to succeed in that, we need to fundamentally shift the way we do EVERYTHING.

I promise to do my part, supporting federal legislation to protect our earth while starting small with projects at home.

To think that my choices of sustainable commuting, eating a plant based diet, and working on our City’s zero waste program likely pale in comparison to the impact of not having a baby is nothing short of devastating.  Does it make me a bad environmentalist to honor my maternal instincts?