Time Flies!

     I know this sounds a little cliche, but it seems as though the older I get the faster time slips by!  This week we've had a few big events happen that have made this more of a reality and less of a perception.  The first being my baby girl Duchess turned 12 on June 4th!  At the risk of overloading this post with cliche's, it seems like just yesterday that I picked up this tiny little bundle of black fur and paws and brought her home with no real clue what to do next!  

     I would imagine bringing home a new puppy is somewhat similar to bringing home a new baby, you're extremely excited but yet slightly scared.  Somehow though we managed and even though each day brought with it new challenges, they were met and together we learned from them.  From the moment she was a part of my family Duchess has been on a roller coaster, I picked her up in Laurel and on my way back to Conrad as we were leaving town my pick up broke down!  Luckily Jill and Ryan lived there at the time so we borrowed Jill's car to get home while my truck was getting repaired.  From then on has been an adventure to say the least!  Duchess has lived in 11 different houses in her lifetime!  That's almost one move per year!  Yet each time her dad and mom wanted to pack up and move she eagerly gathered up all her tennis balls and embraced the adventure!  

     I know we have truly been blessed to have Duchess in our lives for as long as we have, it seems like every day someone will tell me another sad story about their lab who looked just like her but passed away at 8.  I cherish each day that I have with her and as I write this looking out the office window, watching her and Kashi follow the morning sun around the yard, I can't help but wonder where I would be without her.  She was with me during the darkest days of my life and no matter how low I would get, every time I came back home she was there for me, ready to bring me joy in any way that she can!  They say that dogs are mans best friend, well I feel like Duchess has proven that theory to it's core!  

     The next thing that happened making me realize just how fast time flies is Tatum's kindergarten graduation yesterday!  The graduation was very cool as they sang a couple songs as a class, watched a very well put together slide show where they each held up signs saying what they wanted to be when they grew up, then finally received their diplomas.  As we sat there watching the little girl who just wont stop growing up I couldn't help but think about how quickly she has gone from crawling around on the floor, to walking across the graduation stage!  

     We have watched her go from a curious little girl who is not afraid to try anything once, as long as she thinks about it and does it her way, to the mature little school girl who seems to get smarter every single day!  I've been lucky enough to coach Tatum in t-ball two years in a row now and the difference I see on the field on Friday nights between last year and this year is unbelievable!  Last year she was on a different team so she didn't really know anyone and was kind of quiet and shy, this year even though she's got almost all new teammates she's one of the "veterans", interacting with the other kids and leading by example rather than just doing what everyone else is doing.  Last year she wouldn't play catch before the game with anyone unless you pretty much forced her to, this year she plays catch with the first kid to show up no matter who it is.  Every week she tells me something that she learned in school that I didn't even know!  It's pretty humbling when you start learning things from a 5 year old!

     The last thing that happened came today when our other daughter Kashi turned 11!  Duchess and her ironically have birthdays a day apart from each other just like Jill and I and Kashi and I are both the second one so we can share in each others sorrow a bit.  It's an ongoing joke in our family that growing up I never got the birthday I wanted because we always celebrated them together and Jill got all the attention since hers was the first birthday and shes the "favorite":)  Kashi is the same way, since Duch is the first birthday she usually gets all of the attention and poor Kashi just gets to celebrate hers with Duchess.  Well everyone knows that it's not actually true and just like Kashi will get her own special day today, I too got my own special day.  Much like Duchess when I look at Kashi now I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by since she joined our family!  I can remember seeing her in her kennel at the shelter we were volunteering at and knowing as soon as our eyes met that she was supposed to be with us!  She proved that our feelings were right when the day we picked her up and she jumped in the pick up to meet her new sister for the first time and they looked at each other, Kashi licked Duchess's face once and they sat down next to each other and looked at us as though nothing was out of the ordinary.  It was like they were two kindred spirits that were always meant to be together all along.

     In no time at all Duchess and Kashi were inseparable, now after spending the last 8 years together if one of them is more than 50' form the other they start getting worried:)  They say that nobody just bumps into another person by accident, that everyone we meet in life is for a reason, I truly believe that dogs are no different.  Kashi coming into our home was no accident, she was supposed to be Duchess's little sister all along, we were just lucky enough to bring them together!

    

     So as I look back on this week and can't help but feel like time just won't slow down, I understand that this is just how life is and I am okay with that.  Knowing that things won't be slowing down helps me to fully cherish every moment that happens in this life, whether big or small.  If we don't cherish these little moments we won't remember them, and you can't get them back so we have to enjoy them as they happen!

Remember, time isn't a factor in the highlight reel of your life, only the moments matter.