Athena's 14th

Athena turned 14 this past weekend. When people say that kids grow up fast, I can attest that they certainly do! It is such an adjustment to think of her as a teenager, a young adult, when I have so many images of her in my head as a baby, toddler, and an energetic, smart, affectionate, and funny child. There are only a few years in which our kids can really just be kids, playing, enjoying family time, and exploring, before the concerns of the teen years change things permanently. But I can see that in just a few years Athena will be an adult who will light up the room with her smile, laughter and energy, as she already sometimes does (when she is here!). 

I chose a few pictures from recent years, that remind me of some of her later childhood days: the first is from her first day of school in second grade, in the fall of 2002, age 7; the second is on her 10th birthday, November of 2004; the third is on a beach in Sandwich in May of 2005; the fourth is in County Clare, Ireland in February 2007, age 12; the fifth is at her sixth grade graduation in June of 2007; the last is Athena surfing this past August in Truro.