I, like many others, have spent the last 18 years watching something grow. I'm not talking about my garden or my business. I am talking about my sons, the oldest of which now 18, graduates in just over 2 weeks from high school and I can not believe how true (and now detested) the saying is, "it goes so fast!"

I must admit it is bittersweet in how much he tries my patience at times, how much he eats, how much dirty laundry he can create and yet how much I am going to miss him when he leaves the nest for college this August! What I wouldn't give to be back in the elementary school days!

I once heard a mother remark that having her child changed her life. At the time I assumed she simply meant how it changed her career path and her daily routine.  I know having Jackson changed my life too.  I now realize the change ha… — I once heard a mother remark that having her child changed her life. At the time I assumed she simply meant how it changed her career path and her daily routine. I know having Jackson changed my life too. I now realize the change has been so much more. It took me on a meandering path I never imagined, with many ups, downs and forks in the road. It taught me a lot. I am grateful for every minute and will always be, as I continue the unpredictable, but wonderful, path with he and his younger brother.
I was thrilled to have this past Spring break with my family, where we flew to Seattle, saw the sights then hopped an overnight train to San Francisco, where we explored more fun things, and hiked through Muir Woods, which proved a bit humbling at first, as we stood at the feet of such remarkably tall trees. But after I took a picture of my boys together at the base of another giant tree, things fell into perspective for me, that while things may seem big, it depends on the context, and seeing my enormous boys dwarfed by the forest, reassured me that while I see them as grown (and my job as a needed mother waning), they are still small in some ways and my job is not over yet! Which brings to mind the other popular (and also detested) saying, "blink and you'll miss it" ... which is painfully true, so to all the mothers out there about to be celebrated on Mother's Day, stay on your path, for it will prove to be an amazing one... but *no blinking*!