My grandson Nathan, aged two and a half, had a recent interaction with a medico — in this case, a vet.

This interaction has helped me to reflect (AHPRA, please note: reflection) about the immense challenges of trying to understand where others are coming from.

As a background to this story, Nathan loves his picture books. His mother had been reading about how Maisy (a mouse) had brought her pet black cat for a visit to Dr Furgood (a lion), who had provided medicine to keep the cat healthy.

When Nathan’s own cat became sick, the family braved the dismal Toronto winter temperatures to visit the vet, a concept that Nathan was now very familiar with from his book.