Living in the Sound, my son’s love for whales comes as no surprise.

At any given day a pod of orcas will be spotted on the left side of our island and in spring greys feed on the right. Little J knows all about whales. He shares his bed with Bill the blue whale, Tim the orca and Boris the sperm whale. We talk about them a lot, borrow books from the library and sometimes watch documentaries.

Instead of Super Bowl we watched A life among whales. It started so beautifully and Little J was mesmerized. Then they showed whales being harpooned, bleeding, dragged onto the decks, de skinned, still gasping for air. The mommy in me wanted to switch it off so bad. But he was staring in amazement asking me only WHY?

I tried to explain. But frankly I could not. I am 34 years old and I still don’t understand why humans can hurt each other. Why we destroy environment, what makes us act so superior to other species. And for the first time ever I saw this deep shame and remorse on my son’s face. And concern. He said we should save the whales. And I agreed.

I was filled with hope. Because children are by nature selfish and the day your own shows care for something other then what directly impacts his everyday existence, magic happens. All of the sudden I feel like a child again too. As if my voice matters, I feel like right now there is something wrong and I can fix it. I just know I can.

Whatever the cause you are supporting, thank you. For all you running for cure, talking about your own abuse to help others, raising money for poverty stricken countries, recycling paper and plastic, bringing up bright children, adopting a puppy. Thank you.

Because change comes from one and adds to many. My son posed for Tails for whales. It is his first step to changing the world. What will be yours?