Fifteen Years From Now....

I took a photo of my grandkids recently. The photo was taken at the end of a great day together. Everyone was in good spirits after plenty of time playing outside, a visit to Auntie's cupcake house, and lots of silly play and laughter. They actually even posed for me - a rare occurrence - usually my pictures of them are taken while they are busy and not even aware that they are being watched. I love this photo. Sammy sits with her arm protectively around her "little" brother and her other hand is linked with his between them. I thought to myself, how fun would it be to take this same photo again in fifteen years to see how they've grown up. As I continued to think about that, I found myself thinking about all the things that will happen in their little lives over the course of those years, and also thinking about how quickly it will pass for me - just the blink of an eye.

The year will be 2030. Sammy will be 19 1/2 (I'm sure she will still be counting half years at that point) and Joey will be 18. She will probably be in college and Joey will be preparing for his high school graduation. They will have learned to tie their shoes, write their names, stand in line, read a book, do addition and subtraction, and most likely will surpass me in geometry, algebra, and chemistry. They will have friends and lose them. They will enjoy hundreds of celebrations with their family and they will also know the quiet of sometimes being alone. They will ride a bike (and probably will both also ride dirt bikes) and drive cars. They will break hearts and may have theirs broken as well. They will become more fully who they are - styles, likes, dislikes, interests, passions - and they will make lots of decisions about how they will use their talents as adults. They will have school conferences, concerts, and sporting events that their parents will attend (and probably a few grandparents as well). They will give their parents gray hairs and at least a few sleepless nights. They will receive thousands of hugs from me and I will receive thousands of laughs from them...and endless pride.

How can all of this happen in just fifteen years of time? It doesn't seem like enough time for everything that will fit inside. And yet from my perspective, I know that I will just close my eyes for one moment, and when I look again, it will be 2030 and I'll hope to be standing on this same grassy hill taking their photo once again. They will be grown and I can't wait to see what that looks like on them. I'm guessing that Sammy will probably still have her arm draped around Joey. They will both look confidently into my camera lens with eyes that have seen more than I can even imagine today.

And I know that it will feel like just a blink of an eye...