So Jacob is growing out of the house and at 18 years old, he is so ready to leave the nest. I am not ready for him to leave at all. I still picture him at 9, helping us at bead shows, talking about his cat and the cat novels he was reading, playing amongst a huge pile of legos and still wanting bed time stories. The whole world is right when they say that time flies and before you know it, decades have gone by.

This is one of the choices he had in choosing his senior picture for the yearbook of which he is editor. I love this picture. This boy-man looking out into the world, determined, strong, confident. I love the muscles in his arm and the strength in his jaw. My God, but he is a handsome boy!

This is the other photo choice. He likes this one. The smile, he says. This picture reminds him that he is happy, popular and self assured. He feels it is him; that the picture says it is him in the thick of his life. I like it too but I see a senior yearbook picture, old stuck in the mud mom me, as more of a head shot.

WHERE DOES TIME GO AS IT PASSES BY? IS THERE A COLLECTION OF HOURS IN A CLOSET, waiting to be discovered and used? Is time different for the young? Do they see it as a forever moment?

I want to shelter my son and guide him. I want him to have wings and leave the home nest with gratitude and wisdom. With lessons learned enough to share with others. I want so much for him. I want him to be brave and smart and strong and know that we, his parents, love him and only want the best for him. I want him to return over and over again into our arms and home. I want for him a future of endless possibilities. Of health. Of clear blue skies. Of non GMO foods. Everything. I want everything for him.