Look at the darling young adult humans who let me love them.

I call them all my babies.

Friends, I am here to tell you definitively: the kids are gonna be alright. These precious ones are 17-20ish years old and they already understand community, camaraderie, and deep, abiding compassion. They show up for each other. They share real and vulnerable truths. They try to be kind, and when they’re shites, their friends call them out… and then back in. They’re passionate about justice and integrity. They’re critical thinkers. They challenge each other and the status quo. They wear their weird, geeky, counter-cultural ideas on their sleeves. They sing show tunes at all times of the day and night. They eschew norms, gender and otherwise. They dial in my missing child from Turkey so he can play, too, because they’re includers. They give each other thoughtfully curated gifts (stuck in concrete, buried in a giant hole in my backyard, that have to be literally unearthed and then smashed with a mallet sending concrete shrapnel across my yard), so, really, my only complaint is their creativity. 😂

In conclusion, I adore these creatures. They delight me.

Also, grown-ups could learn a lot from them.