“I knew you would want to know how the future turned out. You got so anxious about climate change as we grew older.  By coming back, I thought I could help you with that.”

You are so small. So innocent. So beautiful. For you and for everyone else, I will try harder.

We hope we did enough

Dear tomorrow, thank you for letting me ride the wave of wonder that reaches toward you for all generations of all species to come.

I am sitting in a classroom thinking about you. Which is rare for me. I hope that our family has taken some initiative to do something about changing society instead of building robots and large houses.

I hope that you all can enjoy the Smokey Mountains in your lifetime too and that they look how they did back in 2017 when I saw them.

This Mother’s Day I am again thinking of my grandsons future and what I am doing to change the world if only by a small fraction.

All you can do is your best. You can encourage the same in others. You can admit your mistakes and those of your ancestors. You can learn from them, and help however you can. I’ll do the same. I promise.

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

If we work together to spread the awareness of what is occurring today, we will be able to prevent it from continuing into the tomorrow.

If we could talk, I would not be able to bear your gaze as you ask: How could you, the people in a position to change the course of climate change, fail to act?

Maya, my love, I promise to be courageous. I promise that when I face a decision, I will think of how it will impact you and your future. I promise that I’ll also step outside my individual decisions and add my weight to the forces that shift culture and systems.