Watching them grow

The other day, I watched my 16 year old son drive out of the driveway and I had to stop and wonder where the time had gone. Here was a boy who at the age of two, could name just about any dinosaur including some I'd never heard of, and now he drives a car, plays in the school orchestra and is celebrating his first anniversary with his girlfriend.

Yesterday, my youngest son turned 10. His basketball team placed first in the city-wide tournament and he was happy that most of his friends gave him money for birthday presents. Gone are the days of action figures and Hotwheels. Now conversations usually deal with sports, girls or passing gas.

This year I'll celebrate 21 years of marriage to my beautiful wife. We still hold hands and snuggle, but now we talk about the kids more than we do ourselves and money that once would have gone for movies or cd's goes for more responsible things.

I'm wistful, but not remorseful. Oh sure, I might have done things a bit differently, but the outcome has been pretty good. I just can't believe how fast the time goes. People pass away or move on and others come to take their place. Sometimes you wish you could go back and relive a certain moment or see again a place that exists only in your memories. But still you must move forward. "Progress," they call it.

I'm content to watch them grow...I hope to grow along with them...

David