Happy Moments

We left the holidays behind, although they will be memories to cherish in the future months. A new year is ahead, a year with new goals to accomplish, errands to run, bills to pay, vacations to plan and birthday parties to put together. How enchanting! Nothing beats the time when friends and families gather to celebrate whatever the occasion for celebration may be.

This month it is my son’s sixteenth birthday. When did the time fly? Who is the handsome, tall man who replaced the baby I held in my arms sixteen years ago? But it is not the height that scares me. No! It is that time when he holds his driver license in his hands and gets all excited about driving his own car, and I get anxious about letting him do it. Not that he is not a responsible driver! Oh, he is! I am the overprotective mom who’s not prepared to accept that her baby is about to detach, gradually, until one day, he will have a life of his own, and I will be the one left behind to watch and help.

I think that for us, parents, our children will always remain our babies regardless of their age. We don’t cease to worry about them just because their physiognomy changes. Parents should give their kids’ confidence, must be their best friends, guardian angels, always watching, helping, providing support, loving, admonishing and forgiving. Parents are the first role models for their children—it is mandatory to be the good one. Parents are ever so special, just because they grow old while their children mature. We don’t even realize when silver touched our temples, when a few wrinkles appeared in the corner of our eyes, when terrifying pain formed in the lower back, when we grow weak day after day after day. The signs are all there—I call them signs of becoming wise.

And one day, a young man or woman opens the door, just as my son is doing at the moment, and we wonder where the time flew? It is crucial to mark each new birthday with something special—cake, candles, balloons, a big party, a new piece of electronics—so that, when we look back at those pictures touched by time, we smile recalling the instant when the child celebrated a special moment because these precious moments make life worth living to the last beat.

Love,

Carmen Monica