Reflections on green

I like to think that I fall somewhere in the middle of my parents two extreme spectrums in regards to money. My Dad texted me, early my time in Germany, reminding me of the urgency to open up another retirement account, stressing its importance to secure my future. My mom on the other hand, on the phone an hour ago, reassured me that she will in fact splurge on the nice hotel in Ohio, where we will go to visit my brother in college, because what else is money for? Using it! I carry both of their wisdoms, both of their learnings and mistakes, and perhaps even a drop or so of the scarcity mindset that comes from being poor and Black in America in the 1960’s. They want better for me, better for their children. And I want better for mine. Perhaps that’s why I took off to Germany during the tail end of the pandemic, searching for something I couldn’t put my finger on - a life, maybe, free from the shadow that is cast on Americans, Black Americans, people searching for The Dream. Germany has it’s own shadows, but here they aren’t afraid to look at them. And so, consequently, they turn to light.