Fourteen

It doesn't seem like a year ago that I wrote this post about Shannon turning 13. But it was, a whole year ago today.

As I was reading over that post, I was thinking about how much things have changed in the last year. How much she has changed, and how much our lives have changed.

Thirteen is a hard year, y'all. I don't think there are any easy years with teenagers, but 13 is hard. I looked at the picture in that post from last year. It was taken the day before her birthday, and she was asleep...making her look a couple years younger than she actually was.

This picture was taken about a week ago. She and two of her friends (Shannon in the Belle-inspired mustard yellow) were dressed up to go to a friend's bar mitzvah. She has developed some (ok, a few) curves in the past year. Her face has become more angular and she dyed her hair black. She wears a lot of eyeliner, and she's grown about 4 inches. And for all that tough facade...she loves Hello Kitty. She got a Hello Kitty little plastic tiara to wear to school today. Because she's silly like that.

Am I the only one who gets sad on my kids' birthdays? I always feel sad, because every birthday is one year closer to them leaving me.

I started to write a whole section here on adolescence, the struggle to become an adult, etc. Then I erased it. I'll write that another time.

Today is Shannon's 14th birthday. And there are times when I think I see a small light at the end of this hormonal tunnel. I hope it's not a train.

Happy birthday, Baby. I love you.