I blinked…

June 3rd, 2002 I was just shy of 19 years old and became a mom for the first time.  My sweet Justin came in the world and changed everything I knew about life and myself.  I was completely lost, I mean what does an 18 year old do with a newborn baby?  Justin and I learned how to be a family together.  He taught me what unconditional love was, and I taught him how to eat and sleep.  There didn’t seem to be an end to those long sleepless nights, and then I blinked…

Justin’s preschool years were full of laughter and learning.  He was still teaching me about unconditional love, and I was teaching him how to use the potty and learn to read and write.  Justin has made me laugh just about every day in the past 17 (almost 18) years.  Just like the time I picked him up from preschool to be told by his teacher he was mooning parents as they came to pick up their kids. Totally not funny at the time but now…how it makes me laugh! In case you were wondering, that was a one time thing.  Those questions of “why” and “how come” seemed to never end, and then I blinked…

The next thing I knew, I had 3 kids and Justin was in elementary school.  Justin has always had the ability to make friends easily, he is funny and sarcastic, welcoming with a killer intuition as to who will be a good friend, and who you should keep your distance from.  Elementary school turned into middle school which quickly turned into high school.  I’ve watched him walk some hard paths with friends and school.  I’ve watched him discover who he is and become comfortable in his own skin.  I thought middle school and high school would last forever, and then I blinked…

Justin graduates in June.  My Justin with his sarcastic, goofy, loving attitude will be an adult in a few months.  The sweet boy who taught me unconditional love and how to be a mom, is growing his wings and learning to fly.  The amount of love and pride I have for him can not be put into words.  I literally had no idea what I was doing at 18, nor do I know 18 years later.  What I do know is that we learned together, we grew up together, we learned to love together.  My sweet boy, I love you so.

To the other moms out there, blink slowly.  It goes by quickly….