Since my two daughters emerged into this world, all of my tomorrows have become more dear.

Sent on
June 1, 2018
by
Ken Knapp
Send Your Own Message

To my wide-eyed warrioresses,

Cradling your daughter in your arms for the first time changes you—and your future—forever. Since my two daughters emerged into this world, all of my tomorrows have become more dear.

A climate-changed world is anything but a proud legacy, my dear daughters. But you have given me gifts more powerful than despair: wonder and curiosity, as well as the passion of my eldest and the resolve of my youngest. A father relearns about the world through the eyes of his daughters, which is to say that legacy can flow both backward and forward.

Whether it’s a vortex of 400,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats rising in the twilight above Carlsbad Caverns, a Marmota Olympus standing vigil outside its burrow on Hurricane Ridge or a moonrise above the canyons of Mukuntuweap National Monument, our planet is a place of profound beauty and complexity. Its emergence out the cosmos has been a fantastic journey, and this world will not go quietly into the night.

You are both authors of its coming chapters. Humanity has lurched along, inflicting both harm and help, not always in equal measure. Perhaps it’s time for “womanity” to take the lead. Teach me the things I must do, both big and small, then reteach me as new knowledge emerges.

But first, let’s hike somewhere together. The journey to a forever planet starts with a single step.

Share on:
 
Send Your Own Message

More Messages to the Future

 

Dear Yasmine,

I tried to teach you of the importance of being satisfied with what you had within your hands.
 

Dear loved ones in the future,

Even if it pains me to imagine how things are back home in Puerto Rico at the moment, I know things will flourish again. The land will heal, but we need to help it.
 

Dear humankind of today and tomorrow,

I do wish to contribute as much as I can, maybe even start a ripple effect, where other people will start taking action too and inspire other people too.
 

To my beloved granddaughters, Margaret and Caroline,

Growing up in Germany, I often wondered what my parents had done to oppose the Nazi regime in the 1930’s that led to WWII.  I was so disappointed when I found out how passive they had been. For me, this was formative.
 

To my children,

If there is one thing that I taught you it is to be honest in your decisions as they pertain to yourselves and the earth in which you live.
 

Dear Tomorrow

I promise to reduce my waste production
 

Dear Seamus and Tuva,

So it’s 2050. If the good people are winning the greater struggle, fossil fuels are a shamefully long chapter of the past, and there has been a full scale awakening to the need for only renewable, clean energy.
 

I love you Earth.
 

Dear Students,

My act of love will be to use all the power I have, during the rest of my life, to stop climate change.
 

Queridas filhas Ana Luísa e Ana Carla,

Que vocês possam contar para seus filhos e netos que minha geração tomou consciência de sua responsabilidade e assumiu sua condição de natureza e a ela se reintegrou, com inteligência, interação respeitosa e solidariedade.
 

Dear Tomorrow,

I promise to stop eating beef.
 

Dear Jamie and Jason,

My inspiration was the two of you. It started with thinking about the world you were inheriting and what your future was going to be like. But then you taught me how important it is to listen to you – to listen to young people.
View All Messages

Send Your Own Message