ADAM OLSEN: His initial response highlights how little meaning there is in stuff that we consume cluttering our lives and living spaces
My 12-year-old nephew plays in Pokemon tournaments. Last weekend Emily and I agreed that we would give him a ride to his next tournament because his parents were busy juggling the rest of life. On the way back from town, we got talking about his birthday. He will be thirteen this summer and it's an important milestone for him. He's clearly proud to be moving into a new part of life. He will be a teenager and even though it is really just a number, this number is meaningful to him. So, I told him that if means something to him it also means something for me. "What do you want for your thirteenth birthday?" I asked. "Don't know... just money," he responded. "I want to get something for myself!" "Oh ya, what do you want to get for yourself?" "Don't know, but there must be something," he said with a smile. There must be something... not sure what it is, but there must be...