The Passing of Time

Attended my nephew's high school graduation this evening.
Wondered where all of these years have gone...how did they go by so very fast?
Is it really possiible that he could be eighteen, a high school graduate, and ready for the world?
It was almost more than I could bear.

I held him as a tiny baby...changed his diapers...rocked him to sleep on more than several occasions. My brother and the nephew's mother divorced when the nephew was a boy. His mother moved to another city (not terribly far away, but not here) and we do not see him as much as I would like. I suppose some of that is my own fault. I could have asked to get him for a weekend or such.

I remembered so much this evening as I sat waiting to hear his name...waiting for him to walk across the stage and get his diploma...I remembered his little boy grin, his curly locks, his arm around my daughter's shoulders..."Cousins," they would say. When most people yelled and shouted for joy this evening, I felt my eyes well up with tears...

The passage of time is such a bittersweet thing.

Jack Martin, I am so very proud of you, and I love you more than I can say. You made it!
"Let your soul shine,
It's better than sunshine,
It's better than moonshine
Damn sure better than rain...
Gotta let your soul shine,
shine 'til the break of day..."

BSM: Reflections at Sunrise

Tracy at Mother May I is reflecting on things for Best Shot Monday this week, so I took cues from her and composed my own list of current reflections.

Just returned from my last hurrah of the summer, as I start back to work / school this week on Thursday (yikes!!), so most of my pondering happened in the face of this glorious place- the crashing waves, the sucking wet sand, the delirious laughter of children playing in the nearby pool...what a place to reflect! This is Daytona Beach, Florida...my best shot above is at sunrise on our last morning after spending a week there.

While there, I reflected upon the following:

* going back to work this week- trying to gear myself up for a less stressful year...hoping and praying that all will go well with new administration and new students...I took deep breaths while trying to soak in this sea thinking that would rid me of all of my worries...

* my parents- growing older and more fragile- my father celebrated his 70th birthday while we were at the beach...70 years old. That sounds so old...they are such active and busy people that they do not act like that age, so it is easy for me to forget...I already ache for the day that I will have let go of them...*sigh*I can not even think that thought all the way through...but I have just in the last few years really realized the years in them...the photo below is my father with his two grandgirls- my daughter (the oldest grand child) on the right and MEB, my brother's daughter (the youngest grand child) on the left.

* how fast children grow up- the daughter just turned 19 this summer, and we were all talking about how she would be 20 years old this time next summer...(*oh, my heart*) During this conversation, all of a sudden the daughter realized that MEB will soon be 6 (in November), will start kindergarten in a week or so, and will be almost 7 this time next summer...(boy was that shocking for her!) I told her that is what it has been like for me to watch her grow so very fast before my eyes...that is one little girl that the daughter simply adores...it is so nice for the cousins to be so close; when the daughter is around, MEB will not have much to do with the rest of us...it is really quite touching, and I hope MEB will still love the daughter that much even when she gets older and older...The photos below are from MEB's first slumber party! My brother, sister-in-law, and their kids were in Daytona with us (we stayed in different sides of the resort), and MEB got it into her head that she was going to spend the night with us...so the daughter planned a slumber party with dinner, games, painting nails, make-up, pop-corn, late night television (Disney Channel), and much much snuggling...it was so sweet!

MEB is wearing my shoes in the first shot...a sure sign of growing up- wearing heels! Nana (my mother) was our nail tech for the evening in the next shots...she was so gracious in applying polish to everyone's fingernails and toenails...with such skill and no complaints! And of course, MEB wanted to sleep in the daughter's bed...

* lastly, I reflected upon the future- right now there are many uncertainties for us- financial difficulties, the daughter's college / job (or lack there of), where life will take us throughout the next several months...I continued to take deep breaths and realized that God is in control of it all, and I need to trust in Him...I took this last photo as a sign that all will be well! (not sure if you can see the rainbow, but it is there...His promise.)

Check out other stories and photos of reflections for this week here. Hope you have a great week!