In My Time
“As a society, we have trashed the planet and walked away. This chain needs to be broken.”
In my time, I was a child whose world consisted of green trees, summer breezes, fresh air and blue skies. Within my lifetime, it changed. No windows open due to ozone warnings. Sky coated with a yellow brown haze, like residue on a smokers ashtray. Beaches closed due to dirty water. I could not breathe the air, I could not go in the water. In my 10th year of life, I noticed environmental changes around my neighborhood, and by my 4th decade of life, Mother Earth was crying and dying.
I spent the rest of my life, devoted to protecting and defending Nature. What was done in the name of progress during the Industrial Age was done without thinking of the consequences. We as a human race could have done better. I have not given up fighting and hoping for a better future. My 3rd Great Grandparents from Sweden were born near the forest. Our story starts in 1848 with Anna Lisa in Dimbo a Viking age village. Sweden was a beautiful but poor country in famine. Young Johannes stole food to survive. Late 1800’s thousands emigrated to US on visions of the “American Dream."
I am 2nd generation American. I too was born in the forest and moved away from my childhood home, a village in Chicago wrecked by environmental destruction, poverty and crime, in search of a better place. I moved alone cross country, to Las Vegas, Nevada. It lasted 14 years. They city shattered due to the 2008 recession, Lake Mead almost empty. Time to move, again. How many generations will it take? As a society, we have trashed the planet and walked away. This chain needs to be broken.
In 2015, people gathered in Paris for Climate Talks demanding justice to act and restore Earth. I hope Paris is the defining moment where we save Earth. Time is running out. I want laws passed and enforced in the interest of protecting our environment forever. In my time, it has become a race to save the Planet. I cannot imagine any more important work. In your time, six generations later, with this letter I am with you in spirit. I hope my words and work made the world a better place for you. I hope your world is now pure and vibrant, reminiscent of the carefree days of my childhood, and our ancestors in Sweden, all the days of your life.
Love, Traci Elizabeth
