My daughter is starting college classes today. The family walked the campus with her last Saturday and she was this cute, redheaded bundle of excitement and nerves. And at one point, when we were walking upstairs, I looked at her and had this flashback of her at two years-old; sitting in a car seat between us in the front of the pick-up we drove then. She liked the little, plastic dolls that came in McDonald’s Happy Meals—called them dawbies—and she’d have one clutched in each hand. (Her favorite had little hearts and stars in the feet that worked as hole punches.) When a rock song came on, her blonde curls bounced all over the place as she head banged in that car seat.
It’s hard to explain the feelings that come over you when you have that sort of vivid flashback at such a time. You’re watching this grown-up who just yesterday was a little girl who cuddled in your lap and sucked her thumb to calm herself down. Emotions tangle inside. Faint sadness for the baby years that are long gone, excitement for her and the life she’s getting ready to lead…pride and so much love, it replaces all the air in your lungs.
Life moves, shifts, and before you know it, the next part is here. Enjoy it. 🙂