I know they have it before, but I am going to say it again tomorrow morning. Young parents hear all of the time: Enjoy your children now, because they are going to grow up so fast! After you have heard it a few hundred times, you just don’t give it much thought. But it is true.

Daniel was born very early in the morning on May 22nd, 1992. In fact he was born at shift change for the nursing staff. I overheard two nurses arguing over who was going to be forced to care for him, because the night shift was not quite over. I don’t recall being more angry than I was at that moment. I walked away from the situation, because if I ever opened my mouth what was going to come out would have been the worse tongue lashing those women had experienced in their life on this earth.

Daniel’s birth came only months after my mother’s death in October of 1991. His entry into this world brought great healing. He was welcomed by a young boy at home who would soon turn 3. They became the dynamic duo almost instantaneously. We purchased our first home a few months after Daniel’s birth. That house still holds such great memories of those two boys playing and growing together. I remember Daniel insisting on riding with me to take his brother to Kindergarten each morning, so I would drop Randall off and then run Daniel back to the house before going to work every morning. Those were the days when they still thought that my impersonations were funny, so I got do “Scar” from the Lion King and “The Beast” from Beauty and the Beast for them every morning on the way to school.

Randall will enter his senior year of college in August. Daniel will be a freshman. Mitchell will be a freshman in high school. .As I stood outside the convention center with the parents of the debate team kids after graduation last night, I realized an era was truly ending. I have become very attached to that group of wonderful people. We have gone on debate tournaments together out of town, hosted tournaments in Granbury, and tried to serve our kids well. And now each of us is sending a child off to a different university.

A word to young parents: Spend time with your kids. Invest in them. Go as a sponsor on school trips. Volunteer at church camp. Find areas of common interest. I can tell you from firsthand experience that graduation will roll around before you can blink.

Ironically Daniel has grown up to be a very compassionate young man. When someone needs to be cared for, he will take the initiative to do it. It won’t matter of not if it is shift change. I am proud of all three of my boys. My message to young parents: Better enjoy them now!