You survived the 2020 school year - and though things are improving, everything is still in chaos.

 

We are living in a time of great upheaval.  Everything is changing.  A lot of the lies our culture has told itself – everything is okay, poor people aren’t being mistreated, race isn’t an issue, we’re the best country in the world – are falling apart.  Being a teenager is stressful enough – you’re constantly worrying about what to do, who you’ll be, how to live; being a teenager when all of the things you took for granted are falling apart is terrifying.

 

But I have great faith in you.

 

If many of the things that are so wrong now – our inability to come together in a crisis, the mistreatment of people based on their background, gender, color, culture, or identity, the lack of care and support for those most in need, the promotion of hatred and violence – if those things are going to change, it will come down to you.

 

I don’t expect you to be heroes from a movie – those kind of heroes, who punch evil and look cool, are part of the problem, because they make us think one person can solve a problem, and that hurting people fixes things.  Real heroes are everyday people who are giving and kind.  Who try to see the good in others, and who try to do what’s best not just for themselves, but for people in the future.

 

I hope that you'll move into the future with your values intact, thinking hard about how to be warm and kind, and being active in politics and society.  If anything is to change, it's going to take a younger generation who doesn't accept "business as usual" - the status quo.

 

Please don’t be strangers.  We all need a network – now, more than ever.  Let me be part of yours.  Call, write, text - I'm here.

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Much love, kids.