Grown Up, But Not

One day, we wake up and realize we’re not kids anymore. Perhaps it’s after we graduate high school, or maybe it’s when we start to worry about money or death. Whenever it is, we do grow up. We’re forced to. There comes a time when we’re no longer allowed to be dependent on our parents. A time when our innocence disappears. A time when our carelessness is no longer seen as youthful and charming, but as unduly childish.

We dreamed of growing up, wondering what the world looked like beyond our own home. Yet upon growing up, we find that the reality is less lovely than we’d envisioned. We find that the only thing we really want back is our youth and innocence, and the cruel irony is that these are the very things that will never return.

Here I am, thinking about how my friends are getting married and having babies. And all I want is to sleep at my house and have my mom come in and say goodnight.

Time is moving way too fast. It feels like yesterday that I graduated from college, but in reality it's been two years. And before I know it, I'll be married. In two years' time, will I be grown up enough to take on that responsibility? Only time will tell...