In with the New

          This has been a big weekend for me!  Yesterday I bought my first car: a 2012 Ford Fusion.  To be honest, this wasn’t something I had particularly wanted to do.  I knew the day was coming, but I hoped I still had a year or two with my Mustang.  However, after taking it to the shop last week, I discovered some very disheartening information and was forced to make a big girl decision. 

            It didn’t take me long to decide what kind of car I wanted.  And it also didn’t take me long to go from dread at taking the big step to excitement.  My parents came into town for the weekend to walk me through the process and be there for me if I had questions or needed advice, and as we sat in the office at Ford the impact of the moment hit me.  I was signing paper after paper after paper, and the man helping us kept talking to my parents about how fast kids grow up.  How you don’t appreciate them as much as you should when they are young, and how in a moment they are all grown up and buying their first cars.  Needless to say I was tearing up, which was the last thing I wanted to do at that moment.  But I think the truth of his statement really hit me.  It’s not just that way for the parents; it’s that way for the kids as well.  You don’t take the time like you should to savor the moments of growing up, of being young.  And as empowering as growing up can be, there is a part of you that will always miss being carefree without a worry in the world.  So the best thing we can do is relish the moments life gives us, whether we are learning how to ride a bike for the first time, feeling the nervous anticipation of our first day of work, or driving home from the dealership in your very first car bought all by yourself.  There are moments of carefree youth even when life isn’t so carefree.  You just have to find them and hang on for dear life because the truth is, like that yellow Mustang, they never last quite long enough.