--{ the sweetest thing }------
This is going to be brief, very brief. My parents did the sweetest thing last night. On the way driving home from work, my dad tells me, "I saw in the newspaper today that there's a PBS special on the environment, do you want to watch it?"
It was a two-hour thing, mostly focusing on the ecosystem. Pretty basic stuff: water loss in South Africa, desertification in Mongolia, deforestation in Canada, stuff on various low-till methods of farming in the plains states. My mom and dad and I all watched it together, at the kitchen table. Every now and then, one of them would gasp and say, "We didn't know that was happening! That's bad!"
To understand why this is a big deal, you have to understand the relationship I have with my parents. For a long time, it's been strained as a result of my decision not to pursue a career in medicine. Ever since then, they've really taken very little interest in what I do, careerwise, not when I was studying atmospheric chemistry, and not really when I was studying environmental law.
Which certainly had its up sides. Like I didn't get the nagging that my brother (who did go to medical school and is now a doctor) has gotten, over the years. But it was always kind of hard, knowing that, well, they just didn't think much of what I was doing.
Anyway, at the end of the program, I thanked them for noticing it in the television listings. My dad said, "Oh, of course, when I saw the description I knew it was a very important program. And I thought you'd be interested in it, too."
062001