As Rafiki holds up Simba to the admiring animal kingdom (and mesmerized audience) at the beginning of The Lion King, we are ceremoniously introduced to the “circle of life”-  the beginning  and end of life that ties us all together through all of the joy and pain that comes with it.

I recently encountered a series of family events that reminded me of the psychological features of that “circle”.

A few weeks ago we had the joy of babysitting our 3 year old grandson and 1 year old granddaughter (one of 4 princesses in the kingdom – not counting their mothers of course).   One day she was in her normal routine of crawling, stopping, sitting, standing, wobbling, falling down, crawling, stopping, sitting…etc.  She was just at the first stages of taking steps – actually we saw the first 2 taken alone and then a few with a helping hand.  Taking her tiny hand in mine and helping her walk is an unexplainable delight.  She would actually grasp on to a finger or thumb since her hand is too tiny to actually hold properly.   Her tiny hand with mine taking some of her first steps in life-baby steps, clumsy steps, goofy steps, wobbly steps, but oh my – what joyful steps… the beginnings of new life, new avenues, new adventures.  She has no idea of what lies ahead, and she won’t remember this walk with her Grandpa – but I will.

Almost a week later and being back home,  we had the added joy of getting to have a different one of the princesses stay with us for a whole week of our grand parenting experience.   This time, the nearly 6 year old had no problem walking or running or playing, or talking, or jumping, or climbing, or reading or talking, or swimming, or coloring or talking…. Life was busy and full of lots of motion going places and talking about so many things and sharing just about every minute of the day with an inquisitive, enthusiastic, growing child.  Yet there were times that she would put her tiny hand in mine – as her parents had taught her – in crossing the street and walking across the parking lot, or in crowded areas. Instinctively her hand would suddenly grasp mine as we headed somewhere, and just as instinctively would release when all was safe.  But while that tiny hand was in mine she was taking big steps, and sturdy steps, and fast steps, and skipping steps, and oh my – what joyful steps…  the beginning of new challenges, new adventures, new places to go.  She has some idea of what lies ahead, and she probably won’t remember this walk with her Grandpa – but I will.

The day after the exhausted (well we were exhausted, not her) princess left for home, I was called to go out of state to spend time with my Mom.  The circle of life was throwing her some unpleasant curves and I was hoping to help her through it as best as I could.  We spent lots of time in the days that  I was there managing issues and concerns, developing a plan, talking a lot and, mostly and importantly,  just being a son with a Mom.  One day she wanted to get out of the house and go shopping and out to a dinner.  As she got out of the passenger side of the car she told me she needed help walking this time but she didn’t want her walker.  As I came over to help she put her tiny hand in mine and squeezed it tight…  baby steps, clumsy steps, goofy steps, wobbly steps, and oh my – tearful steps… the beginning of the end of adventures, yet new challenges, the discussion of new places to go.  She has a clear idea of what now lies ahead, and she will remember this walk with her son – and so will I.