Life is changing

By Sarah Duggan on June 22, 2017

Life is always changing, but what is it about going back to your hometown that makes you feel like you are 17-years-old again? Even when I roll across the Franklin County line in my grown-up car with my husband and two children, car packed with diapers, extra clothes and goldfish snacks, I still feel like an awkward teenage girl.

My family and I attended a couples’ baby shower for a friend of mine on Saturday. The party was at the home of my girlfriend’s parents. Couples showers are all the rage now for weddings and expectant parents. The shower still includes games and presents, but you can also expect a meal, drinks and fun for the whole family, men included.

I spent the evening surrounded by my friends who have remained close to even after high school and collge. The house we were at was a place I spent many days and nights with my friends—swimming in the pool, eating on the deck and hanging out in the basement. And now there I was in the same space but years later as an adult. I felt like a kid.

Earlier that morning the girls, Edward and I joined my mom and one of my sisters to watch my brother play baseball at the sports complex where I worked as a teenager. Another weird feeling. I spent so much of my summers working at the fields and at that time I couldn’t have imagined who I was going to be when I returned as grown woman with a husband (never thought that was going to happen!) and two beautiful girls. Even the fact that I was watching my much younger brother play ball seemed surreal—14-year-old Sarah definitely didn’t expect to become a sister again just before she left for college.

Every time I go back home I feel like a teenager again. And every time it hits me like a ton of bricks that life has changed—and fast. All we can do now is tighten that buckle and enjoy the ride.