Virginia, I'm very touched by your experience and your emotions. I have a dozen nieces and nephews from age 1 to age 24, and I have to tell you that every time one of them takes that leap it startles me. And I'm not even their mother!
As adults, we're used to time feeling like it goes fast and faster. You not only can remember her toys as a baby, but also her first tooth, her first steps, her first day of school and every thing since then. I see my college niece going to a formal ball, and I think, where's the little girl who sat on my lap for story after story? Where's the 12-year-old who begged to go to the Disney movie? Instead, what's on her mind is her boyfriend, her studies, her friends, whether she'll get the "cool" dorm next year, and if she'll find a summer job. They lurch so quickly into Life, and we're just not ready for it.
My 15-year-old niece just sprouted taller by about a foot, got her braces off and got a figure, all in about six months -- I am not ready to see a graceful young woman in place of my adorable clutzy girl! (Thank goodness her youngest brother is just a toddler, because I still need some baby hugs now and then!)
I'd be just fine if my 12-year-old niece were 10 again, and if my 9-year-old niece were back at 6, LOL. They grow up so fast, and every physical reminder of it is both beautiful and a little scary to us. (Funny, though, how my sister cannot WAIT for her little boy to grow and get just a little more mature!)
I'm proud that you let her go, and I'm proud that you set your standards for the boy's behavior and that he met them. I hope it was a fabulous night for her, and that you survived it with flying colors!
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Virginia, I'm very touched by your experience and your emotions. I have a dozen nieces and nephews from age 1 to age 24, and I have to tell you that every time one of them takes that leap it startles me. And I'm not even their mother!
As adults, we're used to time feeling like it goes fast and faster. You not only can remember her toys as a baby, but also her first tooth, her first steps, her first day of school and every thing since then. I see my college niece going to a formal ball, and I think, where's the little girl who sat on my lap for story after story? Where's the 12-year-old who begged to go to the Disney movie? Instead, what's on her mind is her boyfriend, her studies, her friends, whether she'll get the "cool" dorm next year, and if she'll find a summer job. They lurch so quickly into Life, and we're just not ready for it.
My 15-year-old niece just sprouted taller by about a foot, got her braces off and got a figure, all in about six months -- I am not ready to see a graceful young woman in place of my adorable clutzy girl! (Thank goodness her youngest brother is just a toddler, because I still need some baby hugs now and then!)
I'd be just fine if my 12-year-old niece were 10 again, and if my 9-year-old niece were back at 6, LOL. They grow up so fast, and every physical reminder of it is both beautiful and a little scary to us. (Funny, though, how my sister cannot WAIT for her little boy to grow and get just a little more mature!)
I'm proud that you let her go, and I'm proud that you set your standards for the boy's behavior and that he met them. I hope it was a fabulous night for her, and that you survived it with flying colors!
January 31, 2009 - 12:47pmThis Comment
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