They Grow Up So Fast...

Like many parents, I have pictures of my kids on my desk. I look at them often, and each time I am reminded of how fast they grew up.

My favorite photo is of the boys at a Fire Department Open House during my first year on the department.

They are standing on the running boards of 3571, our new Quint, one on each side of Chief Gray; Joseph barely taller than the Chief even though he is on the running board and Matthew still shorter.

The smiles on their faces reveal their excitement at the simple pleasure of standing on a brand new fire engine.

Somewhere along the way, I blinked, and everything changed.

I keep this picture on my desk as a constant reminder of those days; now long in the past.

Another photo sits beside it; taken just a few months ago, shortly before Matthew left for his final semester of college. It's still Matthew on the left and Joseph on the right, but that's pretty much where the similarities end.

They're grown now.

No longer two little boys whose excitement and joy come from standing on a brand new fire engine; they are men.

I used to wrestle them both at the same time; eventually "succumbing" to their relentless attacks.

I used to scoop them up, one in each arm, as we chased and played in the yard.

I helped coach their soccer team; watching them progress from the stage where the entire swarm of kids followed the ball wherever it went on the field to a team that ran plays and worked systems on the field.

I helped coach their baseball team; always accused of being harder on them than anyone else just to prove to everyone that I didn't show favorites.

Eventually, I sent them off to college; little boys no more.

I used to think people were a little nuts when they exhorted me to enjoy them in the moment because they grow up so fast. Days are still twenty-four hours and years are still 365 days; it can't go by any faster or any slower no matter how much we wish we could change it.

Now I am one of those nuts exhorting others to enjoy their little ones now because they will blink and the kids will be grown.

They grow up so fast, you know.