Every year we line the boys up in front of the back door and take a picture that would make most photographers cringe. It isn’t art, but to us it’s a masterpiece.
It’s the “First Day of School” photo.
The cast? Our three boys. And every year we watch as they change, grow taller and get more and more grown up. This year will be the last year we have the three of them in the shot — our oldest will be a senior. It’s a feeling Amy and I share with so many of my friends on Facebook. We’re watching our kids prepare to leave the nest. Which of course raises the question, “Where did the time go?”
While I don’t know where it went, I do know it went quickly. I remember seeing my oldest’s little face in my car’s rearview mirror as I took him to preschool. I remember him standing next to me as I signed his elementary school’s mural I designed. I remember seeing him play his first band concert. I remember…
I will soon remember his senior year in high school.
His school has a countdown to graduation on their electronic sign at their entrance. Each day I’ll watch the days tick away until it ticks down until zero. And each day, I’ll desperately hang onto every second.
I am so proud of him and the man he is becoming. I am proud of his dreams and how he is working hard to achieve them. I was once just like him. I couldn’t wait to get away. I’ll soon know how my dad felt when I did.
Wednesday we’ll take that picture. It may turn out a bit blurry — but then again, that may just be my eyes.