He's 14! (June 6)

When you first have a child, and later when you have more and are in the midst of the chaos, people who are older and wiser and farther along in the journey assure you that the years will race by. You get tired of hearing it and wonder if they realize a helping hand would be more useful than such gems of wisdom. All too soon, you find yourself in their shoes, stroking babies' downy heads and encouraging new mothers to live in the moment. Of all true cliches, "time flies" is indeed the truest, and most poignant, of all.

I have a lovely, vivid memory of one the long afternoon walks Jan and I used to take in Switzerland when he was a baby. We were going up a hill overlooking the lake, the crisp October air suffused with autumnal color. Walking under an avenue of trees, golden leaves fluttered down on to the path and into the kinderwagen (stroller) where Jan lay. A smile spread across his face and he giggled with delight, responding to that glorious air and light and color. I wanted to preserve that moment. To keep life that simple, that wondrous, that beautiful. And I couldn't, of course, but I've kept it with me, the memory. I take it out and examine it at the end of the more challenging days. I recall it when standing next to the "baby" who is growing ever-closer to my height. That these two people are one and the same, and that he is a part of me, is simply astounding. And he's 14. Time flies.


He had to make the most of these two candles, since his mother forgot to purchase more. Ahem.