April 11, 2023

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I’m happy. I can’t explain it better than that. I’m not chasing anything to validate myself. I’m not trying to have anyone recognize me or notice me. I’m not trying to change my body or my weight. I’m just happy in my own skin and most importantly within my family and in my own heart and mind. I like myself. I like that I have tangential thoughts, and that I am a smart and thoughtful pediatrician and parent. I like that I can string together a sentence.

And life has been beautiful and slow. The parrots are squawking and a friend told me that they often will eat citrus and fruit from home gardens, but they never eat ours? We have blackberries, kumquats, citrus and the parrots leave our garden blessedly alone. The butterflies and lots of bees visit my mother in law’s garden. I sat out in the back and front garden for long moments yesterday. I was sitting and just visiting with a friend, who is also a pediatrician and climate friend. We talked about our families and our children, in a way I could not have imagined 15 years ago when we first met. She’s a beautiful beautiful person inside and out, and it’s amazing that we are friends.

I told my other friend who is more of a pen-pal really about my mother-in-law’s blackberries. I told him that the children are lucky to be able to pick the blackberries and eat them directly. Maybe in 15 years we will be more than just pen-pals and the seeds that we have planted in both of our children’s hearts will blossom into something. The seeds are planted deep right now, and need time to grow. No matter what the families that each child is growing in, are both filled with love and caring and nurturing. That is why I’m confident that no matter what, when our families both met it was a beautiful moment. No matter what, when we met we created a ripple in the universe and that was a ripple of goodness and healing. The San Diego Heat and Human Health Summit will happen because we met, and thousands of lives will be saved because we are pushing our region to plan for extreme heat events.

Our son ate a blackberry and it was so sweet he said. His grandmother planted the blackberry and weaved the vine into a beautiful arc that is like a crown for a king. And he’s our king and the prince of this household. His father and his grandfather love him very much. We all love him. But the men in the family love him in a different way, with a father’s and grandfather’s pride that their name will be carried on – all the way to college and to hopefully to career success that has echoes of past Korean dynastic victories. It’s hard for me to fully realize their pride, since I’m neither Korean nor really have thought of my dynastic lineage.

In the end I’m a really simple person. I went to a fancy school with a fancy name, and I like being busy and decided to help save the earth. But the core of who I am is just a cheerful person. I am so glad I met me again.