I love the air I’m breathing, I love the sun that’s shining

I have just ended, yet another, work day. I am an elementary school teacher, and I am glad the day is over and my students are heading home. Living in Chicago, I pray every day that we ALL get home safely.

Getting home safely, these days, is a blessing. I say that as I reflect on the 8-year old girl shot & killed, and she was just taking a walk with her mother. I realize that some Mamas live in neighborhoods where they can be outside with no worry, and then I think about me & my child and the other Mamas like me.

My daughter LOVES outside, all parts of it. She loves the freezing Winter we are in now in Chicago and she loves the hot Summer nights full of mosquitoes. I picked her up from her PreK3 classroom today and couldn’t stop kissing her and telling her that I loved her.

And I thought, as we get closer to Valentine’s Day, how many times do I say I love the air I’m breathing, I love the sun that’s shining, I love the wind that is blowing, the snow/rain that is falling, and so on.

So I charge you and your tribe to tell something in Nature (OUTSIDE) that you love it and why. Tell the trees you love them because they give off the oxygen that we humans need. Tell the rain/snow that you love it because it gives the Earth the water it needs. Spread the love and “go outside and play!”

-- Mama Hope