In The Blink of An Eye.

My oldest daughter graduates high school in a few days. In the blink of an eye, 18 years have flashed by and my little bird is about to fly the nest.  My mom used to tell me that when you have kids, time seems to go by really fast, and I used to think that was a load of baloney. Until I had kids.

Eighteen years ago Amy arrived in the middle of a big Texas thunderstorm. For the first year of her life we moved around a bit; six months in Austin TX, then six months in Scotland and then we moved to Connecticut.

During the years I watched our little girl adapt to being a big sister. There were moments of jealousy (a toy car launched at Eilidh’s head) and a fair share of sisterly squabbles. But I have also seen an incredible friendship grow over the years; from sleepovers in each other’s bedrooms resulting in late night laughter to doing each other’s homework. I know that wherever life takes them both, they will always be close. Thank you Facetime and Skype.

Friends have come and gone over the last 18 years. Amy’s first friend was Ross, they met when they were both one. They played together and shared goldfish, these days with Ross living in New York state they share texts and tweets.

I watched as she learned to navigate the ups and downs of friendships – some were little spats that were soon forgotten and mended. Others were hurtful and confusing. It was times like this it was hard to stay back and let her figure it out for herself, as a mom you have an urge to fix everything and make sure your kid does not get hurt. But we have the wisdom to know that mistakes have to happen so we can learn from them.

In 18 years we have watched countless soccer games, endless softball games, and lively field hockey games. We have driven hundreds of miles to games and cheered her on when they were winning, and cheered her up when they didn’t. We listened as her clarinet playing developed from a honking goose noise to beautiful music.

Her interests have been wide and varied as she grew up; there was her love of Elmo, then her obsession with dinosaurs. She would even tell people she was going to be a paleontologist when she grew up.  We became familiar with Spongebob and his friends, Avatar the last Airbender, The Cheetah Girls and Harry Potter. Part of her nighttime routine involved moving her collection of unicorns so we could tuck her in.

During the past 18 years, we have watched her develop a strong sense of self, from her stubbornness about not eating vegetables as a toddler to her passion about human rights and equality. I will miss the great discussions and conversations we have had around our dinner table almost every night.

I will miss the batches of cookies she whips up on a regular basis. I won’t have to buy nearly as much peanut butter or goldfish crackers. The bathroom won’t be cluttered with her hair straighteners or make up. There will be more hot water though!

As I watched little girl in the sundress that skipped to the bus the first morning of kindergarten, tears in my eyes, little did I know that my mom was dead right. How did it get to be the end of high school so fast? Amy you turned into the beautiful, smart, strong young woman I always knew you would. As you get ready to start the next phase of your life in Montreal, I could not be prouder.