Life is change, and parents get a front-row seat

By Dr. Heather Bozant Witcher
Clarion Herald Young Adults

My oldest son was brushing his teeth. At least, he was trying his best. It had been a long day – as many days are with three children under age 4 – and I was just trying to get through their bedtime routine.

I’m certain that I had been rushing. Poking my head in, making sure that “playtime was over” so that the next kid could start on his bathroom process before everyone could climb on laps and begin the reading extravaganza before lights went out.

I saw that he was “finished,” so I went over and began my role: the inspection and rebrushing. As he tilted his head and I looked down at his face, I was surprised. A fine spray of freckles has begun to appear across his nose and the tops of cheek bones. Just like me.

“What wrong, Mama?” he asked (because my facial expression had changed).

Matching has been a fun game for them, so I pointed out the darkish “dots” on my nose and face. Then I pointed out his very light specks. “You’re matching me.” He erupted in a squeal of laughter and smiles, and then bounced off to his bed.

Looking down, I saw the  3 1/2-year-old face. The face that was starkly different from the rounded, baby face that I have imprinted in my mind. Another reminder that time goes all too quickly.

It’s hard to believe that one month of the new year has already passed. We’re constantly reminded of how quickly time passes. Items on our to-do lists – “Oh, I’ll get to that tomorrow” or “I’ll do that later in the week” – are even more frequent reminders of the vanishing act that is time.

And, I’ve been thinking more and more about the transience of our lives. Not only the cyclical nature, but how impermanent everything is. It’s a sobering thought, but also one that recalls to mind one of the cornerstones of our faith: we never know the hour or moment.

How many stories and narratives do we hear each Sunday with that very theme, a theme of not only preparedness of our souls, but an insistence that time is all too fleeting and that circumstances are ever-changing?

As Catholics, you might think we’d be prepared to wrestle with these thoughts. But often they hit us hard, as we realize that these are the very things that are outside of our control. It’s hard to reckon with that. It’s difficult to wrap our minds around transience, yet alone embrace it.

Later that week, my middle son excitedly held up an image to me through the schoolroom window as a I picked him up. Bursting through the door, he tried articulating what he wanted to show me. He was going too fast, and at first I didn’t understand. I tried hurrying him to the car. That didn’t work.

He emphatically pointed to small corner of the page and looked triumphantly at me. “My name!” he shouted and thrust the paper in my hands. For the first time, he had written his name. There was a clearly identifiable O, followed by a series of vertical lines. A first attempt. And he was so proud.

So was I. But there was also the nagging thought in the back of my mind: He is growing up too fast.

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