OK everyone, before you go any further, I'd like to ask a favor of you. Take a moment to think about your life one year ago. What were you doing? Where were you going? Who were you with?
Some of you may have been in a different town or maybe you were in a different job. Perhaps a year ago you were preparing to graduate college in the coming weeks. Or maybe you were just bundled up at home as winter seemed to really linger last year -- and this year too, for that matter.
I still remember what I was doing. Ashley was about a month out from her delivery date, so she was kind of taking it easy whenever she could as we both readied ourselves for the arrival our little girl. I, a hardcore winter lover, was begging God for a day warm enough to wear a pair of shorts or fire up the barbecue grill or head out to the driving range. Oh, and for the first time since I was a little kid, I was actually looking forward to the start of baseball season.
But most of all, I was getting ready to hone my dad skills over the summer. See, up to that point, I had only held a baby once or twice. I had never fed one or changed a diaper. And I had no idea just how tired I would be.
That, however, was a year ago ... and a lot has changed. Caroline ended up coming almost an entire month early. Spring and summer both eventually came and went. I spent plenty of time out in front of the grill. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series. And those are just a few things.
What I remember most though, is how different life was for Ashley and me, and how quickly it all changed for the two of us.
We went from wondering if the baby would ever actually get here (don't make that face, you know you wondered the same thing while waiting for your baby), to holding, feeding, changing, tickling and absolutely loving her.
I still remember the day a co-worker told me to try turning on a soccer match when Caroline wouldn't sleep. To this day, she still loves to watch the sport, and I started getting way more sleep after that little tip.
I remember the first time Caroline kissed me. I think it was a Friday, I had come home early because I just could not wait to see her after a long week and she greeted me with this huge, sloppy, drooling, open-mouthed kiss that literally melted my heart.
I remember our trip to the zoo and the awesome grizzly bears and sharks (which I got to touch). I remember the first time she said "momma" and "dada" and "nana" and all those other cute little one-syllable words that babies say.
I remember the first time she rolled over and the first time she crawled -- which was a little weird because she crawls in a weird way. I remember the first time she stood up, and more recently, the first time she walked on her own. I remember moving her from the bassinet in our room to her own bed in her own room. And I remember the first night she slept the whole night through and didn't need us as much as I thought -- or hoped -- she might.
The funny thing about all of this is where I remember events and things that happened, I don't remember 12 months passing. It just kind of happened. It was said to me so many times that she'll be grown before I know it. But that didn't seem possible to me. She would age year-by-year and I would take in every second of it. But that's not how it went down. What seems like just months ago I was suiting up to heading into the operating room with Ashley was actually an entire year ago.
Throughout almost every religion, there seems to be this idea that the head of that religion, the deity, views time differently than we do. Maybe it's because of the relationship that deity has with us as humans. Because as I look at the last year with my little girl I see time differently. Not measured in days or weeks or months, but in moments. Moments when she does something that marks that point in time.
So when someone says, "Before you know it, they'll be headed to college," they're right. So remember the moments you create with your children.
Happy birthday to beautiful Caroline Grace.
Follow me on Twitter at @CN_ChrisP. May the force be with you.
cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com