A Graduated Sadness

Our one and only nephew -- the first grandchild on my side of the family -- graduated from high school yesterday.

...

Graduated. From. High. School.

[Insert shocked and sad face here.]

It seems to me that he only just started kindergarten a few months ago. He was playing with "his guys" and fire trucks and talking about "geckos" and "tids."  How is it even possible that he could be finished his secondary education?

We weren't able to go to the ceremony since he went to a HUGE high school with an even HUGER amount of students graduating and each family only got six tickets. My family alone would have used most of those...not leaving any for his parents and grandparents, who definitely "outrank" aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Still, I was thinking about him ALL day, remembering that he is really truly finished with this phase of his life...moving into the next zone...nearly completely into adulthood. I know his parents feel it far more than me.

Sigh.

It's so hard to watch kids grow up....and this is a really cool guy who really did grow up and up and up to 6'7".

He's going to study engineering at Grove City College in the fall, and we know he'll do great! We're SO proud of him!

It's moments like these that make you sit back and take stock of your own life.

Our kids are just about to finish school for the year.

Emily is heading into her sophomore year of high school, which means she is really truly a high-schooler...not a "beginner" anymore, and Edward is moving to 6th grade, his last year of elementary school before junior high school. Ethan will be 4 in September...old enough to start full-time school in England. We're considering his education already. Already?

How did we get to each of these points already?

Weren't they just born? Just learning to sit up and babbling in babytalk and trying food for the first time?

Those days feel like ages and ages ago now... And, in reality, I suppose they really were ages ago.

I guess it's just another reminder for us to enjoy these days -- the here and now.

Billy Joel said it best when he sang that "this is the time to remember...'cuz it will not last forever. These are the days to hold onto, 'cuz we won't although we'll want to."

I really want to hold onto them....