The Subtle Thief of Youth

John Milton wrote that time is the subtle thief of youth. In other words, time flies! And it flies quicker than you can comprehend.

My mom was going through what we call our "junk closet" and came across boxes and boxes of old pictures. Some of them made me miss family, others made me laugh, some made me roll my eyes, but all of them made me realize how quickly time is passing us by. One particular image really, really stuck out to me!

(click on the pic to see it enlarged)
This is my cousin Alana and I (a.k.a. Barney and Fairy Princess) in 1993, in Bakersfield California.

I don't know if you can tell by the look of utter adoration on my face but I have always looked up to Alana!  In this picture I had just turned 3 and and she was 5. She was my cool older cousin that could do no wrong!

&  here we are last September.

The difference between us then and now, other than the obvious seventeen years, is what those seventeen years have done. I of course still love her to death, but now it's not because she's just my cool older cousin, it's because of who she is! If I had a bosom buddy, I'd say it's Alana! (If you don't understand that reference you need to watch Anne of Green Gables right NOW) She is everything that I want to be. She is creative, intelligent, strong, kind and one of the most beautiful people I have ever known and probably will ever know, both on the inside and out.

Seventeen years has transformed both of us from childish little girls to grown women with goals, aspirations, and lives of our own. Alana is now in the Air Force stationed in South Korea, serving our country. I'm in college as an education major, learning how to teach little squirts like she and I used to be.

And though seventeen years seems like so long ago on paper, in reality it really isn't that far in the past. When I think about times we spent together as children it doesn't feel so long ago. I miss some of those times when we were younger and care free, but then again it makes me want to cherish TODAY. Because today will be tomorrow's memory and time really does fly!

[[Fun fact about Alana and I, we are OBSESSED with musicals.]]