Life is like a carousel. We want it to be fun, lively, full of music, color and laughter under a big, beautiful canopy. We want it to move, so that it isn’t boring, but not so fast that we get dizzy. We want it to be safe with support poles to hold on to while we ride on horses that won’t buck.
When we have children, we hop up onto the ride with them, holding them gently in place. A few years later, they are old enough to balance themselves, but we ride the pony next to them just to be sure. Finally, we let go long enough to let our child ride alone and we watch with a mixture of joy and angst as they dash onto the platform looking for the horse that best suits them for their spin. The bell sounds, the calliope plays and the wheels begin turning and we watch from the bench as our child slips in and out of our sight. And when we do see our little one, we hope for a wave and a look of delight rather than terror as they come back around on the next rotation.
As our children grow older, they ride the carousel’s outside perimeter selecting a horse from which they can stand tall in the stirrups and daringly reach for the colorful rings poised in the dragon’s mouth. With each circulation, they eagerly persist in conquering any fear of sharp-toothed, fire-breathing dragons for the promise of being the sole rider lucky enough to have pulled the brass ring.
As our children grow into their teens and finally into adults, the rotations can take longer, especially if the ride our child chooses is in another city or with a different set of values. And sometimes, our children fall on this ride of life and we rush forward to bandage the bumps and the bruises, wipe away the tears, and help them back into the saddle. The ride, which momentarily has stopped, gets back underway.
It’d been 4 or 5 years since our Sam & Larissa rode the famous hand-carved Carousel in Missoula and at 9 years of age, I thought maybe they’d feel too old for the merry-go-round, but I was wrong. They anxiously stood in line time and time again, waiting for the next ride and yet another chance at winning the elusive brass ring.
As their mother, it is my wish that their lives will always be this carefree and happy and I know it can be, for laughter and joy truly are found in the simplest of pleasures and a ride on the carousel in Missoula, Montana still costs no more than 50 cents. As their mother, I am also all too aware that with each revolution, my babies grow older and so I consciously freeze this moment in time in my mind, in my camera and in a SLIDESHOW (below)… in the event my mind should ever forget…
What unfolds with every revolution is uncertain and all at once thrilling, but no matter what the carousel of life brings, I find peace in knowing that Sam & Larissa have a deep respect and love for one another and that they will always have each other to lean on in all the twists & turns and ups & downs called life…
by Susann
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