7.1 - Sixteen Today

Today my daughter is 16.

As I look 5-years into the future, I consider that at the end of that time she will be 21—done with college and into "real life." My son will be 17 and completing high-school

The shock value is off the charts.

I fondly remember a time when I thought that 21 was old. I have always considered myself to be young ... 17 ... but now with 21 years of experience. My father—who is also young—turns 65 this month. I no longer have any living grandparents. The future approaches faster...

At 16, the future is wide open—the possibilities endless. Sixteen is full of beauty, grace, power, freedom ... awkwardness, fear, insecurity, confusion. At 16, all the emotions of life are running full speed—simultaneously. Guidance is desparately needed and hastily shunned.

It is a great time to be alive. Oh, to be 16 again...