Time Marches On...

and things change. I was just reading the blogs of two of our daughters, Angelia and Jessica, and started to think about how we all mark the passage of time in different ways. While the girls all once marked the passage of time by how many years they'd been married to their significant spouses, and before that, how long they had dated the young men, they now mark their days by what's happening in their own daughters' lives. Angelia and Larry (married for almost 14 years, I think) sent 7-year-old Shelby Jo off to second grade today. Jessica and Scott, though today they celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary, are looking at how Leah May (now 7 months old) is learning, growing, and changing every day. And Ashley and Mark are watching and waiting for those first steps of 9 month old Ashley Marie, though they marked their third anniversary just two weeks ago.

Where just over 30 years ago, I myself was a new bride, I am now wife, mother, mother-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, grandmother (Weezer to the three granddaughters), and retired nurse. There's also sister and sister-in-law but I don't do those well. I measure my days by how long it's been since I saw one of the babies and when I'm going to see them again. I'm constantly thinking about things that I might be able to introduce them to or teach them. I still watch my own daughters grow and measure their lives by how they're maturing into women from girls, to mothers from wives. I'm learning how to be a full-time wife since Terry's retirement and my exit from the nursing world. Though each day, for me, is much the same as the day before, I thrive in the growth of my family and their accomplishments. With that growth, I know that time is passing and things are happening as they should. What could be better than knowing that.