Where Did Our Babies Go?

I was recently talking with someone and we were saying how it is odd that we do not feel like we have changed or grown older.  However, if we look at our children and where they are, it is a completely different story.  Yes, we bare the signs of age - like how my joints make creaking and popping sounds while exercising, or the addition of grey hairs.  In the song “Sunrise, Sunset”, they sing, “I don’t remember getting older, When did they?” rings true.

I recently held a new baby for the first time in many years.  It brought back memories of holding our babies, even though it now seems like ancient history to me.  I cannot believe that I have one daughter who works and one daughter, who travelled for a month and is now going to look for a fulltime job.  Gab is involved as a bride’s maid for her friend who has adopted Debbie and me.  I remember when the hardest thing we had to decide was where should we go and play on the weekend, or who would be taking them to their friends’ parties.  Now, it is picking them up from the airport, helping them with car decisions, and hoping that they remember to let us know what they are doing.  That is a long way away from when they were babies.  Oh, if that is not enough to make me begin to feel old…the baby I was holding was Gab and Bec’s babysitter’s first baby.

It is odd how all of these thoughts rattle around in my head around the Father’s Day Weekend.  I still have my father, for which I am thankful for.  As a father, I am blessed that I have the children that I have.  While I know that it is nice to have a special day to focus on each of our parents, Father’s Day has become a day where my brothers and our families get together, grill some good eats and quaff a few frosty beverages with our dad.  For me, however, I still maintain that Father’s Day for me is every day – I have my children as my gift.  As with a new born, each new thing they do, each new adventure they try and each new accomplishment is as fascinating to watch today as were those small “first steps.”