Grow vs. Age

Want to know something true?...You start to "realize" yourself a lot more harshly once you've graduated high school. Before then, you're just so captivated by adulthood while relishing in youth that you don't readily connect yourself to aging. I mean, you're definitely well-aware of the fact that you're "growing" as it seems every birthday is a national holiday for you at that age, but aging is something that before you graduate high school (in my opinion) you really don't have a concept of. By "aging" I mean maturing, taking on responsibilities, gaining friends and associates, losing them, going through romantic relationships, dealing with money and all those other things that make adulthood so glamorous....it's all so distant before high school graduation. Two of my closest friends (Laura and Mateo respectively) are now expecting children. CHILDREN. Niños. Bacche. To me, that's just insane. Not the fact that they're both kind of young, but the fact that they're actually about starting families. And more than that, a new generation...from our generation. I don't know why that touches me so deeply; especially because I love kids so much and I'm constantly thinking about my own future children, but it just does. Either way, I'm making the conscious decision to embrace every ounce of this "aging" thing, while fondly cherishing my time of "growth" as much as my memory allows.