Me?... An Ancestor?
Wynn Ima-Goner couldn’t suppress a feeling of satisfaction as he stepped out of his attorney’s office and bumped into his friend Lee Gacey. “You’re looking chipper,” Lee commented. “Well thanks. I feel great.” Wynn replied. “I’m ready to die!”
Wynn explained that he just updated his will. “Yup! I’ve laid out just exactly where all my possessions will go, so I’m all set for…whenever. There’s nothing more for me to do,” he said smugly.
They walked on in silence for a few minutes then Lee asked, “Glad to hear you’ve got your possessions figured out, but have you decided what kind of ancestor you want to be?” “Huh? What are you talking about?” Wynn asked.
“Wynn, you and I could die tomorrow, or who knows? We might be around for another 20 years or more. But someday, we’ll be someone’s ancestor; so what kind of ancestor do you want to be?* Will your descendants say, ‘I’m so proud of my ancestors. Back in the 2020s they dedicated themselves to preserving a healthy planet for me and my children.’ Or will they shake their heads and wonder why our generation didn’t act while we had the chance?
“You know Wynn, what we do in the next decade will be critical in shaping the environment for hundreds of years to come. Are we okay with letting global temperatures continue to rise and as a result alter the climate our civilizations were built on? Each year, 200 - 2000 species are driven to extinction. Are we going to let that continue? Will plastic pollution become so pervasive as to be inescapable anywhere on the planet? I could go on, but you get the picture,” Lee concluded.
“Golly! I hadn’t thought about it that way.” Wynn reflected. “I DO want to be remembered for more than just the stuff I leave behind. Did I just say there was nothing left for me to do? Oops, I missed the mark on that one! My work has just begun. There are tons of things** I can do to live more gently on this Earth.
“Our descendants deserve a planet at least as beautiful and healthy as the one we were born onto. After all, this is the only home any of us will ever know. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
*Concept courtesy of Robin Wall Kimmerer
**https://www.rituals.com/en-us/mag-kindness-for-the-world-50-ways-to-be-kind-to-the-planet.html
Wynn Ima-Goner couldn’t suppress a feeling of satisfaction as he stepped out of his attorney’s office and bumped into his friend Lee Gacey. “You’re looking chipper,” Lee commented. “Well thanks. I feel great.” Wynn replied. “I’m ready to die!”
Wynn explained that he just updated his will. “Yup! I’ve laid out just exactly where all my possessions will go, so I’m all set for…whenever. There’s nothing more for me to do,” he said smugly.
They walked on in silence for a few minutes then Lee asked, “Glad to hear you’ve got your possessions figured out, but have you decided what kind of ancestor you want to be?” “Huh? What are you talking about?” Wynn asked.
“Wynn, you and I could die tomorrow, or who knows? We might be around for another 20 years or more. But someday, we’ll be someone’s ancestor; so what kind of ancestor do you want to be?* Will your descendants say, ‘I’m so proud of my ancestors. Back in the 2020s they dedicated themselves to preserving a healthy planet for me and my children.’ Or will they shake their heads and wonder why our generation didn’t act while we had the chance?
“You know Wynn, what we do in the next decade will be critical in shaping the environment for hundreds of years to come. Are we okay with letting global temperatures continue to rise and as a result alter the climate our civilizations were built on? Each year, 200 - 2000 species are driven to extinction. Are we going to let that continue? Will plastic pollution become so pervasive as to be inescapable anywhere on the planet? I could go on, but you get the picture,” Lee concluded.
“Golly! I hadn’t thought about it that way.” Wynn reflected. “I DO want to be remembered for more than just the stuff I leave behind. Did I just say there was nothing left for me to do? Oops, I missed the mark on that one! My work has just begun. There are tons of things** I can do to live more gently on this Earth.
“Our descendants deserve a planet at least as beautiful and healthy as the one we were born onto. After all, this is the only home any of us will ever know. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
*Concept courtesy of Robin Wall Kimmerer
**https://www.rituals.com/en-us/mag-kindness-for-the-world-50-ways-to-be-kind-to-the-planet.html
RSS Feed
