I am growing older, but I not aware of it too often.

Once in a while, I look in the mirror and wonder who the man is standing in my bathroom. I really have no sense of changing, apart from my heart or the rest of my body reminding me from time to time.

But every time I see a photograph of my granddaughter Robin, I am startled. She is moving so quickly, growing up so rapidly.

The grandfather thing sometimes puzzles and stymies me,  perhaps one reason it is so powerful an experience for so many people is that times move rapidly and we are very much aware of it.

I want to love my own life more than anything else, even a granddaughter.

Robin is going to be four this summer, and today, she borrowed her mother’s straw hat. She doesn’t seem like a little kid anymore, it is startling to watch this from a distance.

I suppose if you see people often, their evolution isn’t so apparent. I haven’t seen Robin face to face in a long time, and since she lives in Brooklyn, it might  be longer still.

We have no plans to see one another anytime soon, and we have no idea when that will change.

But this photo gave me pause. I can see the woman Robin is becoming, not just the cute little kid we all have followed here. I guess that means I am older still.