Tomorrow Will Be A Better Day
Josh Rittenberg - New York, New York
As heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, February 27, 2006
Theme: Hope
Audio Script:
//I'm 16.// The other night,// while I was busy thinking about important social issues,// like what to do over the weekend // and who to do it with,// I overheard my parents talking about my future.// My dad was upset. // Not the usual stuff that he // and mom// and, I guess a lot of parents, worry about,// like which college I'm going to, // how far away it is from home,// and how much it's going to cost.// Instead, he was upset about the world // his generation's turning over to mine:// a world he fears has a dark and difficult future,// if it has a future at all.// He sounded like this://
//There will be a pandemic that kills millions,// a devastating energy crisis,// a horrible world-wide depression, // and a nuclear explosion set off in anger.//
//As I lay on my living room couch, // eavesdropping on the conversation, // starting to worry about the future my father was describing,// I found myself looking at some old family photos.//
//There was a picture of my grandfather in a Citadel uniform.// He was a member of the class of 1942,// the war class.// Next to his picture were pictures of my great-grandparents, // Ellis Island immigrants.// Seeing those pictures made me feel a lot better.//
//I believe tomorrow will be better than today,// that the world my generation grows into is going to get better,// not worse. // Those pictures helped me understand why.//
//I considered some of the awful things my grandparents and great-grandparents had seen in their lifetimes:// two world wars, // killer flu,// segregation,//a nuclear bomb.// But they saw other things, too.// Better things.// The end of two world wars, // the polio vaccine,// passage of the civil rights laws.// They even saw the Red Sox win the World Series// twice.//
//I believe that my generation will see better things, too.// That we will witness the time when AIDS is cured, and cancer is defeated. // When the Middle East will find peace,// and Africa grain. // And the Cubs win the World Series,// probably only once.// I will see things as inconceivable to me today as a moon shot was to my grandfather when he was sixteen,// or the internet to my father when he was sixteen.//
//Ever since I was a little kid, // like whenever I've had a lousy day,// my dad would put his arm around me and promise me that// tomorrow will be a better day.// I challenged my father once. //“How do you know that?” // He said, “I just do.” // I believed him.// My great-grandparents believed that, and my grandparents, and so do I.//
//As I listen to my dad talking that night,// so worried about what the future holds for me and my generation,// I wanted to put my arm around him,// and tell him what he had always told me.// “Don't worry dad. Tomorrow will be a better day.”//
//This, // I believe.//
//This, // I believe.//
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