Dinosaur Chasers

There’s a conversation stuck in my head. It happened a couple of weeks ago in my clinic.
Just two lines of dialogue between a four year old girl and her six year old brother.

The question I was asking that week was, what did you want to grow up to be when you were little? I’d had all kinds of great answers already: cowboy, movie star, cafeteria lady, tall.

So I asked these two, who are still little compared to most people in the clinic.

She said she’d like to be a dinosaur chaser.
And he said, what she means is a paleontologist.

What does that do to you, hearing that?
His answer was accurate, smart, precocious.

All the things I aspired to be when I was his age.
It’s possible I’m still trying to be those things.

But “dinosaur chaser”, jeez! There’s something honest and simple and exciting in that that rocks my socks today.

It makes me want to rethink and reword my desires. Here we go.

I want to be loved. Madly. Swooningly, if there’s such a word.
I want to be brave and honourable. Like Zorro or Robin Hood.
I want people to shout with happiness when I walk into a room. I want us all to be great friends.
I want to cure sadness and fear. In everyone.
I want to be some kind of genius cross between Katherine Hepburn, Meryl Streep and Judi Dench. I want them to shout with happiness when I walk into the room.
I want my kids, my lovely man, and my dog to live forever.

Those are mine today. I can hardly wait to hear yours.

Thanks to Alastair and Anna for being exactly who they are.

And thanks to you for the conversation,