Life Comes At You Fast

No, I'm not seeking ad revenue from Nationwide. I'm talking about real life.


As I go through life witnessing daily the changes in Una, I'm sometimes overwhelmed with emotion regarding my grown children, Jenn and Ashley. I want them to know that they are so much a part of our family. They'll get blogged about, too. :-)

So many of the things I'm witnessing today, I was fortunate to witness 25 or so years ago with either Jenn or Ashley. Sally sometimes asks whether Una at this age is more like Jenn or Ashley. To be honest I don't know. It's funny what you remember. Jenn sleeping in the crankup swing or the bouncy in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen. Ashley sucking that finger or brushing her hair (she hated that). I remember the special things. I remember things I've had my memory jogged through pictures. Is it the fact that 25+ years have passed? Is it that I wasn't paying attention? Will 25 years from now the daily actions of Una be faded memories?

Life was so different for me then. I was 25 when Jenn was born. Was I mature enough to appreciate what I had a hand in creating? Did I appreciate those events the way I appreciate them today? Did I show my girls the pride I felt in their accomplishments as I do today with Una? I'd like to think the answer to all those questions would be "Yes".

I miss my girls. Sally can attest to that. Sometimes so much I simply cry as I think of them. Life comes at you fast. There they are as little children, then they are grown mature women who are thousands of miles away.

When Rick P, my grammar school classmate and friend, reached out to me after about 30+ years a couple of weeks ago (he had gotten my number by calling my Mom) he said this, "Your Mom says, 'Call your Mom!'" I now so often know how my Mom felt when I joined the Navy and moved thousands of miles away and travelled half way around the world. A bit of her was gone; had moved on. Pieces of me have moved on, too.

I called my Mom out of the blue the day before yesterday and she said, "What good news do you have for me today?" She just assumed that if I was calling mid-week it had to be for some other reason than to just say hello and check in.

Your children are your children whether they are 20 months or 25 or 27 years. They are your children whether they are down the hall in their crib, or thousands of miles away in their own homes. You love them all the same. You can just as easily lay awake concerned about your infant's latest cold as you can about ice storms in Texas or blizzards in Ohio.

Life comes at you fast. Call your Mom. Call your distant children. Tell them you love them. Ask for pictures to save the memories of the different stages of their life.

I love you Jenn and Ashley. This one's for you.