A conversation with Danny 

It’s a Saturday morning and you’re listening to the news about the world’s calamities, while your child eats breakfast. You’re both having your first coffee of the day and chatting about the weekend plans. 

Suddenly, you become aware of how ignorant you’re being of the tragedies occurring while you casually talk about your schedule. You think about what kind of life you could’ve had and given to Danny, had there not been so much violence and hate in the world.

S: I know this might be out of the blue, but I just want to know that I love you with all that I am. And I’m so sorry for bringing you into this sick, dying world we live in.

D: I love you too mama, you don’t need to apologize. There have been improvements in some areas of life and some catastrophic disasters too. But you didn’t personally cause them, you just provided a safe and loving home for me to grow, learn and live in. Do I wish your generation, and the generations before, did more to keep our planet alive? Of course. I can be mad at your generation. But not at you.

S: To be frank, I’m mad at my generation. I’m mad at myself for not doing more. I wish I didn’t cut corners or stay silent when nature needed a voice. I wish I could’ve given you a better life and a more guaranteed future. A more habitable planet Earth to live in and care for.

D: But you couldn’t have. You, alone, could never accomplish that mama. You would’ve needed everyone to help. Not just by recycling or thrifting, but by standing up to big corporations and calling out the names controlling the outcome of our future.

You both sip your coffees and ponder the words you’ve just exchanged.

S: Is there any part of you that would’ve chosen not to live in these conditions — if you had a choice?

D: As opposed to what? 

S: Well, maybe living in the past or the future?

D: It might be cool to live sometime in the past, but no, I don’t think so. The present is all I’ve ever known. Every generation has its own battles. A palm tree can’t grow naturally in Canada, therefore I cannot willfully go through such change. Why shouldn’t I appreciate the life I was given, being alive right now? Don’t you think that a palm tree would be happier staying where it belongs? I belong here, with you mama.

She reaches over to squeeze your hand and smiles lovingly. All is well and right with your world.

I’d feel like a palm tree growing in Canada: unnatural and out of place.

COVER PHOTO: Julia Solonina/Unsplash