My Stepson’s Graduating College, Man I Feel Old

Where did the time go? When my wife Chris and I first started dating, her son Ian was just five years old. He was a cute, polite kid that was very mature for his age. I remember them coming to my apartment and we would play Uno for hours. There were times when Ian and I would gang up together to go after his mother in the game. But most of the time, he would hit me with the draw four cards just because he'd rather have his mother win than me.

I've watched him grow up since then. I enjoyed going to watch him play sports. He played them all at one point or another. He played soccer, baseball, football, basketball, and did track in high school. I remember his high school graduation like it was yesterday. I remember watching him walk across the stage and thinking those 13 years that I have known him just flew by.

After graduating on the honor roll from Union-Endicott High School, Ian decided he wanted to become a history teacher and he enrolled at Mansfield University where he doubled majored in secondary education and history. He was also a snare drummer in the Mansfield Marching band, The Spirit and the Pride Of Pennsylvania, for the four years he was there.  I remember last year when he turned 21, Chris and I, along with his father, (yes we are good friends and we do a lot of family things together) took him out for dinner and he ordered a beer. That made me feel old too, but it's pretty cool when you can sit at a bar or a restaurant and have a couple of drinks with your stepson while having an adult conversation.

This Saturday Ian will graduate from college. I am very proud of his achievements so far and I am proud of the man he has become. He finished his student teaching and he really enjoyed it. So I am confident he made the right career choice. I'm sure as I'm watching him walk across the stage at Mansfield University to receive his diploma, I will be asking myself, where has the time gone? And I'm sure I will be feeling even older. Check out the pictures below.