I held my son's hand today.............

It's not the first time that I've held his hand, but it is the first time that I've realized how big his hand has gotten. I remember when he was younger, he would grab my hand, Oh how my heart would melt! His little hand didn't even fit in the middle of my palm, but his soft hand would grab a finger or two, and hold on as we walked. Today, I realized how much I missed that feeling. My son is 9 now. In approximately 8 months, he'll be the big 1-0! When he grabbed my hand today, a rush of memories and feelings flooded back to me. The day I brought him home from the hospital, the day he took his first step, the first day he said "Mama", and the first day he laughed.

Today when he grabbed my hand, he didn't hold it as tight as he used to, but I held onto his as tight as I could. When it felt that it was going to slip away, I grabbed on tighter. I didn't want to let it go. It felt so good. I began to realize that this was a moment that I needed to cherish. Pretty soon he would be too embarrassed to hold my hand in public, he'd be too old to hold my hand at all. I guess that is the progression of life. Your children begin to want to let go, or not hold on as tight, while parents want to hold on as they get older afraid to let them go out into the world on their own.

Today I realized that I must take my own advice and begin to cherish simple things and the quality time that I spend with my son. Time is going by so quickly. The memories that I have from the past 8 years, seem like they just happened yesterday, but in actuality, it was 9 years ago. Today will be a day that I'm sure will be a lasting memory for me. I know my son won't even remember any of it. But hopefully, he knows that he has a Mommy that loves him dearly. When he is older I hope that he remembers the quality time that we've shared, and the walks hand in hand that touched his mommy so.

Sweet T