Don't Blink
Last night my good friend Reggie Joiner invited my family to his house for a reception in honor of his daughter Hannah's graduation. We were, of course, glad to go. My girls absolutely adore Hannah Joiner. In fact, they often pretend to be the Joiner girls, and they always fight over which one gets to be Hannah.
One bad thing: Hannah has her nose pierced. I didn't have a problem with that at all...until Anabel asked me when she can have her nose pierced. Still, if that's the extent of her rebellion, I'll take it!
Anabel and Eliza pretty much stayed glued to Hannah's hip for most of the night, and Hannah was a great sport about it. All her teenage friends must have wondered, but she went out of her way to make my girls feel included in all the big girl activities and conversations.
Reggie had assembled a bunch of video footage of Hannah over the years. There she was at Chuck E. Cheese's, and there she was running around a playground. There she was playing basketball, and there she was all dressed up for some formal event.
I sat in a chair in the corner of the room and watched Anabel and Hannah watching the video. A five-year-old and her 18-year-old counterpart. And I watched Reggie. It was all I could do to take it in. I sat there not wanting to breathe, not wanting to move, not wanting time to advance one more frame.
It won't be long before it's my daughter's graduation and some other guy's five-year-old. Everyone says the same thing, "It won't be long. It goes so fast. Don't blink."
Don't I know it.
One bad thing: Hannah has her nose pierced. I didn't have a problem with that at all...until Anabel asked me when she can have her nose pierced. Still, if that's the extent of her rebellion, I'll take it!
Anabel and Eliza pretty much stayed glued to Hannah's hip for most of the night, and Hannah was a great sport about it. All her teenage friends must have wondered, but she went out of her way to make my girls feel included in all the big girl activities and conversations.
Reggie had assembled a bunch of video footage of Hannah over the years. There she was at Chuck E. Cheese's, and there she was running around a playground. There she was playing basketball, and there she was all dressed up for some formal event.
I sat in a chair in the corner of the room and watched Anabel and Hannah watching the video. A five-year-old and her 18-year-old counterpart. And I watched Reggie. It was all I could do to take it in. I sat there not wanting to breathe, not wanting to move, not wanting time to advance one more frame.
It won't be long before it's my daughter's graduation and some other guy's five-year-old. Everyone says the same thing, "It won't be long. It goes so fast. Don't blink."
Don't I know it.
posted by john alan turner at 7:03 PM
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