This month our son turned 4 and I turn 40.

In the quietness and stillness age has taught me to treasure, I keep hearing the same resounding phrase again and again:

I AM PLAYING A NEW GAME

And it’s true.

Since 2004, when my father was diagnosed with cancer, I have been praying for a way to serve caregivers.

Even when my Dad died, and I forgot how to pray, I’ve been praying, in one way or another, for the truth caregivers need to endure, support, live, and find peace.

Then, a few moths ago, along with my new phrase, came a whisper that has grown louder and louder.

MOTHER EARTH

Now I understand the years and years of praying around caregiving has brought me the opportunity to write, speak, create, and pray on caregiving for the place all of us call home:

MOTHER EARTH

I'm weeping as I write this, partly out of gratitude for this opportunity, and also because this calling is reawakening a part of me from long, long ago.

To begin, our family is committed to becoming “low-waste,” and I’m going to share, with one suggestion each post, one action you can take towards caregiving for MOTHER EARTH, as she’s always done for us.

Some of these actions won’t be ground-breaking, but by committing to a tender way of living with MOTHER EARTH, that at times is inconvenient and oftentimes imperfect, we’re setting our collective compass to the direction we want to move ourselves. Our communities. Our planet.

I was introduced to caregiving when my father fell sick and died of cancer, but it was truly in caring for my mother 6 years later, when she was diagnosed with cancer as a widow, and I the only child, that I came to understand what it means to hold a vision, regardless of how unlikely, as the stalwart for someone else.

My mom is cancer-free and 78 now, living a full-life, but aging at a natural pace that seems to be speeding up.

Our 4-year old son is a ball of light and energy, and when I’m with him, I become completely immersed in his imaginary world of childhood wonder and curiosity.

And as a 40-year old (in a couple of days), I recognize this period of my life are the games in the season that really, really count.

Because most likely, when my son heads to college (if he chooses to), my mom will be heading to Heaven. There is no “this” then “that.” It is happening, right now, in real-time, at the same time, and my job is to witness, guide, connect, and love.

Which is how we return to MOTHER EARTH.

Right now, both my mom and my son love MOTHER EARTH. They’ll bend down over a tree root and discuss the story of the tree, watch the fireflies in the backyard, and spend hours together discussing “wild weather.”

I do not believe this is a coincidence.

It is an opportunity, to seize the very thing they both love, and the very place we all need, and LOVE IT with every piece of me, just as I love my mom and my son.

Maybe, just maybe, there’s a way my mom will die feeling hope for MOTHER EARTH.

Maybe, just maybe, our son will grow into a future where MOTHER EARTH is healthy, cared for, and protected.

Failure is not an option, in the grand mission we all have towards the planet, or in my individual calling.

So I will love MOTHER EARTH with the same intensity I love my mother and our son.

And I will share this, the actions, attempts, failures, heartbreak, and new horizons, with all of you.

Let that be my legacy.

Love,

Allison