By Tina Gallion. April 13, 2017. A few days before the Portland Women’s March, my friend contemplated what her sign should read and asked her eleven year old son, Porter, what he thought. He asked her a question. “Why isn’t the government doing more for climate change? I’m the one who is going to be affected.”
Her sign read: Science is Real.
It’s heartbreaking being a mother of two sons myself Cole (7) and Quinn (5) to think what their world will be like when they are my age: 46. It got me thinking about what I wanted to say to them. If I wrote a letter to them, it would read:
Dear Porter, Cole and Quinn,
I am sorry. I didn’t realize how quickly global warming would take hold. I watched ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ when it came out in 2006; it scared me, but I thought it was far off. Working in Silicon Valley and making a lot of money propelled me to consume—not linking consumption to the warming of the planet.
More was better. Bigger was better. It’s the beat of the American drum.
And the planet continued getting hotter. I recycled, so I thought it was okay. The truth is our constant consuming is fueling the fire; we need to find happiness from other sources. You don’t need that many clothes, junky toys, the latest gadget. Pick and choose good quality, but just enough. Know when it is enough. Take great care and thought when buying something. Do you really need it? Will it bring lasting pleasure?
I love you boys. I am doing what I can to repair the damage I have done and lessen my warming footprint.
- Love, Tina/Mom
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- Tina in her tiny house.
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Stay tuned for the follow up story about Tina’s Tiny House after the move!
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