June 10, 2026

by Dr. Plastic Picker

It’s 6:17am and it’s a WEDNESDAY. It seems like a lifetime ago that our youngest finished her last day of school and graduation. Honestly, I think because so much emotional work has happened to all of us. There have been so many transitions and changes, as we adjust to this new stage in life. Mr. Plastic Picker and I were walking and talking yesterday, and we talked about the reality of not having to do morning drop off anymore. Our daughter had been dropped off at school for most of her life by her grandfather, but over the last 6 months he’s had some minor medical concerns and then grandmother was ill with her diabetic toe (which we saved!) and we didn’t feel it was safe to have grandfather drop off the youngest anymore. Mr. Plastic Picker took on the task and was doing this in the midst of taking over as Chief Boss of the Radioactive Doctors Department. It was more stressful to him than I realized. Mr. Plastic Picker was able to get her there most mornings on time, except the last fateful morning of AP Environmental Science when the Harvard-admitted student SHOWED UP LATE AND WAS TURNED AWAY FROM APES (they call it APES as short for AP environmental science). Anyway, that led to a grad night/disneyland debacle and an unexpected life lesson to our cute daughter and ourselves about the importance of being on time and natural consequences of being late. She had to re-sit for the AP Environmental Science exam the next week and missed the night part of grad night. That was an entire thing!

But all these little hiccups have made the actual big change, our youngest graduating, and our entire family moving onto the next stage in life – very real. That frenetic energy of graduation season and family coming into town and all of us reconnecting and reprocessing relationships and rethinking life – is over. And now we are at this beautiful and what I prefer peaceful lull.

It was such a busy time the last few weeks, and now we still have a few parties to plan and throw. But nothing like it was before. The kids are asleep in their rooms. They go to the gym together and meet and think about their friends, picking up last minute important items from school, and going swimming/vacationing with friends.

I’m okay with graduation season ending. I’m okay with her growing up and going off to college. I have travel plans already to visit her and visit places I haven’t had time to visit since we’ve been so busy raising minor children! But I just wanted to let the blog readership know that I’m okay growing old and going through menopause in my weird and disjointed way on and off my estrogen patch and trying to figure out the vitamin supplement regimen that works. I’m okay to continue to work in clinic and continuing at the same pace on my environmental work because – she’s so adorable. And you have to want to save the earth and live and grow old, when you want to protect the young. She and all of our children deserve a livable future. I still have a lot of life left in me and a lot of climate saving energy left! Here’s to continuing to know the big WHY and moving forward it being Dr. Plastic Picker.