when did they grow older 8-23-26

In the background I hear Tevye and Golde of “Fiddler on the Roof” singing, “Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play? I don’t remember growing older. When did they?” The grandchildren that arrived one after another for several years have reached adulthood. That fact hit me when I saw the Facebook picture of this year’s senior standing in front of the door, smiling confidently, holding her “12th” sign. Beside it, her mom posted the one of her first day of kindergarten. A diminutive, pensive child held a paper with ‘K’ sketched on it. The backpack she carried looked big enough to carry her. As a senior, she no longer wears the perky yellow bow of her first day. Her once long hair is cut shorter and swoops up to show off her earrings. Working as a lifeguard this summer left her with a healthy tan and savings account.I can’t help but hear Tevye sing, “When did she get to be a beauty?” At three, she wanted to be just like her next older 4 year old cousin. She wanted to be four that day. I told her she would be four years in four months. “No, I want to be four now!” she insisted, unwilling to accept anything I said until I announced, “Okay, you are four minus a quarter.”That satisfied her immensely, an adult had pronounced her four years old (minus four months). Now she and those cousins barely notice those differences, they are too busy entering the independence and responsibility of adulthood. The once 16 months older cousin graduated this spring. I sat through a separate evening of ceremonies recognizing her and various classmates’ personal achievements and honors. That also surprises me. My grandkids earned the right to wear honor cords for their academics! When did this happen? Their modest parents never said a word. I attribute the honor cords to their moms’ reading hundreds of books to them during those early years of childhood. As this year’s senior drove off to high school, her big brother settled into the frat house ready for his second year as a kinesiology student. He ended his first year of college on the dean’s list, I expect he will do the same his second year. For all his parents’ worries over him through the years, he astonishes me with his long term plans, that he worked hard as a PT tech this summer and saved up money for his college expenses. Equally he astounds me with his side job of finding and selling vintage t-shirts. He casually mentions prices that astound me. When they sell, he adds to his college funds. When did he become a competent businessman? And as Tevye sang, “When did he get to be so tall?” “Wasn’t it yesterday they were small?” Golde responds. I know that feeling. Literally, between visits one fall the chubby boy stretched out and grew thin as he added several inches. Now he looks down on most from his height of six feet three inches. For this year’s graduate that first day of kindergarten 13 years ago seems only yesterday as she heads off for her first year of college. She thinks she is ready, but as Golde sings, “Now they must learn from one another,” emphasizing that learning never stops. It just changes where, when and how. Decades ago, my octogenarian neighbor greeted each newborn with a sad shake of her head as she held them, “So many hard times.” She knew the reality of the final strands of Sunrise, Sunset: “Swiftly fly the years, One season following another, laden with happiness and tears.” Still we celebrate as each one enters this stage eagerly embracing the seasons ahead whatever they may bring.