Time Flies (such an inadequate expression)

"Wow . . . ;" the collective exclamation of Jennie, Allison and myself as we pondered how inexplicably fast the years have sped past. We'd all gathered at the neighborhood park to congratulate and wish well Brent and Jenny Cowan as they leave for 2-3 years in Switzerland with his work, and between eating, visiting and chasing kids, we'd managed a moment to just watch their children play. Jennie asked me, "How old were you when you had Ty?" "Umm," I subtract furiously. "Twenty-nine."
"Really?! You were our age when we met you? And your kids were the ages of our kids; we watched them grow up!" The Cowan family and the Hamatake family did indeed make one big family for several years there in the early 1990s.
"And now here you are at the age I was," I said, "and in another 15 years, we'll be sitting together while your Bella and Austin are off driving and with friends, watching Ben's or Morgan's kids play at some park somewhere and again wondering where the time goes!" It was an awesome thought, this realization that while we were busily living days that seemed long and tedious at times, the years were passing so fast as to leave us breathless.
I thought about this all the way home. In these past 15 years, so much has changed; our families have experienced divorces and deaths and marriages and multiplying grandchildren (well, Carolee has; I just dream about mine at this point), but through all this dizzying change, one thing remains constant: our friendship. We still get together, at homes that grow as families grow or at the park or for a blessing; we consistently catch up on and celebrate the changes. Our friendship and love for each other is the constant in this flowing river of time. That thought is a great comfort; that, and knowing I'll see them again very soon when the babies come! We're still kind of like one big family, and getting bigger all the time . . . :)