Time warp

Last night, I peppered the kid with questions about his first week of school, as we sat in the dusk waiting fruitlessly for fish to nibble on the fake rubber bait on our lines. He told me about his classes, with scary names, about his volunteering, about his being an officer for one club, being a consultant for a tiny startup, being rushed by a nerdy fraternity, auditioning for the orchestra, and on and on. And I, being the ridiculously partial parent that I am, found myself admiring the kid so much. He's trying so hard, his very best, to get the most out of his college experience. He's not going to succeed at everything, but he's trying so much, and I'm so proud of him.

This morning, after birthday cake and seeing the kid leave for his dorm, we went through the photos from last night, and I came across this one which our younger kid took while we walked slowly to fish on the pier:



He looks like a young man ready to face the world, doesn't he? I marvel at the speed at which he's grown up. When he was born, a friend told me that every parent enters a time warp. It certainly feels that way now!

I did okay today. To work off the slice of birthday cake, I dragged myself onto the treadmill. I fed the kid a lot of fruit because I know he doesn't eat much of it at school. And I think I hugged him about every ten minutes in the two hours he was awake today before he left for campus.