Channeling Grandmotherly Love to “Do Something Grand”

Becoming a new grandparent this summer is inspiring Deborah Moore, Third Act Campaign Strategist, to re-double her efforts to be a good ancestor. This Grandparents' Day, she talks about her legacy to her grandson.

This July I became a grandparent! I am now a grandmother to a sweet, expressive, adorable, and squirmy baby grandson. What a joy to witness my daughter evolving into a loving mother and watch the beautiful dance between her and her husband and their newborn as they learn together to care for this magical being and grow their own family. 

As a Third Act staffperson in my own Third Act of life, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with so many of our amazing Third Act volunteers and have admired and learned from so many of you about your “grandparent journey” and wonderful grandparenting tips (“be quietly indispensable,” “don’t give advice; just give your love and time,” “savor the smiles,” “do the dishes and laundry”).  

The experience of becoming a grandparent is making me reflect on time in new ways. How is it that I can remember so vividly the day my daughter was born (nearly 3 decades ago) and here she is now a mother herself?! In the early days of parenting, each day is long, but the years somehow fly by. 

And I’m now reflecting on future times differently. Will I be alive long enough to see my grandson graduate from high school or find true love? What will my grandson’s future be like with growing climate extremes, especially if we do not meet the climate pollution reduction targets that scientists have established?

As a scientist and climate advocate myself, I am very familiar with our global emissions targets and timetables, such as the urgent need to reduce global carbon emissions by 43% from 2019 levels by 2030 and to reach “net zero emissions” by 2050 if we are to maintain a livable planet and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The year 2030 now feels very different when I can imagine my grandson being 6 years old. 

And I’m heartbroken to think about what the world may be like in 2050 when he is 26, that this sweet, innocent being will not come to know and love the natural world that I and his parents experienced: with fewer coral reefs, fewer fireflies, summers filled with wildfire smoke and heat waves, and less snow in winters. The year 2050 doesn’t sound so far off when I think about him. Of course I want to protect him and all of our children and keep them safe.

So, I’m taking to heart the sage wisdom of Third Act’s advisors like Akaya Windwood and Robin Wall Kimmerer about being a good ancestor and am channeling my grandmotherly love into re-doubling my efforts here at Third Act – in community and collaboration with thousands of other parents, grandparents, and grandfriends – to make the world as beautiful, healthy, livable, resilient, and communal as I can. We are doing something grand together here at Third Act: accelerating clean energy, stopping big banks from funding climate destruction, and electing climate and democracy champions. 

When my daughter was little, one of our favorite books was Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, about a young woman whose father’s life principles were that one should explore the world and one must do something to “make the world more beautiful.” The fictional Miss Rumphius, inspired by the real-life “Lupine Lady,” Hilda Hamlin, spread lupine seeds along the Maine coast as she walked and hiked and did, indeed, make the world more beautiful. 

I want my legacy to my grandson to be that I loved him, learned with him, and organized and mobilized with all my heart to leave him a livable, still-beautiful planet so that he may chart his own path to “make the world more beautiful.” 

Deborah Moore

Deborah is a Campaign Strategist here at Third Act. Her background is as an environmental scientist, with expertise on water and energy, and as a campaign manager and organizer, previously with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Green Schools Initiative, and Environmental Defense Fund. She has stopped destructive mega-dams and saved rivers and protect communities around the world; helped pass 100% clean energy and climate laws in California, Oregon, and Washington; co-founded an all-volunteer voter registration organization and helped pass vote-by-mail laws.

Deborah is based on Ohlone Land in Berkeley, California. She’s married and has one daughter, and just became a grandmother.