Please know that I have tried very hard to be one of those people, to even make the smallest of changes in order to improve the world for you and your future.

I hope that my work helping to make your schools more sustainable will be something you carry on as you grow older.

Nossa vida só tem qualidade se tem natureza ao nosso redor.

There is a place on this planet called the Amazon, and I don’t mean the online shopping site (is that still a thing in your time?).

I hope that we manage to change the system really soon, while there is still time. So that you are not left with the mess, and trying to fix something that you didn’t cause. I hope we figured out a way to be kind, and caring for others who will suffer more than us. A way to let go of the greed and look at ways we can help others rather than take from them.

Be the person who shows up. Be the person who continues to advocate for change because change is possible – it is possible in the most partisan of politics.

More importantly, what are we doing to better our planet and everyone who lives in it?

You are young and have a rich future ahead of you. I am retired and aiming for a high quality of cultural life and comfort with whatever time remains to me. I do not want to see a world whose elders sacrifice your future for their short-term needs and personal gain. So it’s up to you and me to speak out.

Tonight at bedtime, you asked, seemingly out of nowhere, “why are the glaciers disappearing?”

Despite all the difficulties, we are from a family whose principles are honesty and love for others, and that’s what I want to share with you.

I am often faced with the question: why do I care so much about this pale blue dot that we inhabit?