Sweet Sixteen

Sweet sixteen... it really doesn't seem like it was all that long ago.

I remember it well.  A night out with family... dinner on a ship on Lake Ontario... a dozen long stemmed roses...  a blue star sapphire ring (which I still have!! I even have one of the roses still!!  and that's saying a lot for this Non pack rat!).

 I remember feeling all grown up.  I was old enough to drive (I got my learner's permit the very next day!!). ... I had a job, my very own income!! I had a new boyfriend...  I had great friends... and a loving family.  All of it put together made my 16th year memorable.

I felt like an adult... not like a teenager.  My sweet sixteen was just that...  sweet!

And now fast forward  a few years...  I'm (ahem) 44 now.  And life is still sweet... no... it's even sweeter!  I'm married to my best friend.  We have two incredible sons.  I love and am loved by my Saviour, Jesus.  Life has been an adventure... a sometimes crazy, never boring journey.

A journey that has led to this day.  The day we celebrate our first born son's Sweet Sixteen.

How is it possible that my son is 16... when I remember so vividly what 16 was like for me??  It really doesn't seem that long ago.

And so I find myself  wondering what he is thinking and feeling on his 16th birthday.  What will he remember about today?  About this year?

He's so different than I was.  He's a thinker.  He's wise beyond his years.  A young man, in love with God.  Someone who stands firm for what he knows is right and good.  Someone I am very proud of.
I could have learned a lot from his example, from his life, if we had been 16 together... in fact, even now, I learn things from him.

Today has been my second sweet sixteen... I am so thankful and very very blessed.