Years ago our family embarked on an RV adventure through Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. When my husband first proposed the idea, I protested like a crazy woman: Our youngest would just be turning 4, he was developmentally delayed, not potty trained, not independent enough, etc etc etc.
“But,” my husband said, “Lily will be turning 13.”
That was all I needed to hear. Time was marching on and the world was not going to stop for my son to catch up.
So the six of us headed west on a wild adventure. My security blanket and assurance we would survive the ordeal was placed entirely on one important accessory: a Bear Bell which my family affectionately called my Dinner Bell. The faint jingling of the bear bell dangling from my belt loop had the power to alert any unsuspecting bears that might be nibbling on nearby huckleberries and cause them to run for cover until our family safely passed by.
As my middle daughter used to like to say, “You can believe what you want to believe. . .” So that is exactly what I chose to believe as we hiked along with me jingling and clapping and singing my way through the trails, my hand locked tightly around my son’s wrist.
One day we split up. My husband taking one daughter horseback riding and leaving me to hike with our three other kids. We were in Glacier and in early July, there was still snow on the trail. It was then that I saw it, a huge paw/claw print in the snow! This stopped me dead in my own tracks. My girls confirmed it did indeed look like a bear print. They had been getting their Ranger badges at each stop, while I was busy collecting the Bear Warning pamphlets and reading them front and back. They were all remarkably similar:
DO NOT PANIC! BACK AWAY SLOWLY OR DROP AND COVER.
As we were studying the paw print, several hikers passed us going the opposite direction heralding the news, “There’s a Mama Bear just up the trail with two cubs. Be careful!”
It was then that I made a deal with my kids: Turn around with me now and hurry back to the lodge, you can have as many scoops of ice cream as you’d like . . . within reason.
So reluctantly they followed. From the safety of the restaurant deck we could see the Mama Bear and cubs in the distance playing along the edge of the lake. My girls were disappointed and to this day still bring it up.
When they are Mama Bears, they will understand: NOTHING stops a Mama Bear from protecting her cubs. We are always on duty, leading them out into open spaces, nudging them onward, keeping a watchful eye, looking for honey and huckleberries, leaving paw prints, symbolizing our cubs are playing, growing, exploring . . . and they are not alone!
I may not have or need that Bear Bell anymore, but I realize that once Mama Bear, always a Mama Bear! As hard as it is to release our paws and take ourselves off of the trails they will be called to, we must realize that One much greater, stronger and more powerful, not only beckons them but has their backs!