Turns out everyone grows up.

I believe I need to explain how I came to my sudden revelation. My older brother and I are 18 months apart in age and only separated by one grade, so he never seemed exceptionally old to me. However, he very recently graduated college and even more recently went apartment hunting to live in New York City for his new job as an investment banker. It all seems too professional and too real for me to be entirely comfortable.

In moments like these I'm forced to face the fact that people grow up, which seems silly. Obviously, I understand the concepts of age and time, but we were always close enough that we seemed to be moving at the same pace. Now, though he suddenly seems a world away, entering his adult life while I'm still worried about entering the "real world."

I'll never say I'm not proud of him because I am extremely proud of him and admire his accomplishments, but it's slightly bittersweet. Seeing him getting his diploma simply means he's one step further from the room we shared as kids.

As I watched this happen, I forced myself to look at everyone else around me growing up. The world isn't slowing down simply because I like nostalgia. I've already served my term as president of my middle school and high school is a thing of the past. Even college is starting to pass me by one demoralizing semester at a time.

In the good times I find myself wishing I don't grow up because I'm worried things will never be as good as they are in the present. Other times I feel the opposite; I just want to grow out of what's troubling me.

Most of us don't think about each day that passes, but once in a while we see that things are moving forward without our permission. Whether it's too fast or too slow comes down to perspective and our place in life, but time itself rarely makes allowances for the grumblings of the average person. Experiences change us perhaps more severely than time ages us, success and tragedy help us grow in ways that years of life may not.

I'm not afraid of the future or what might happen, but I know I'll miss the past and I'll miss the way people used to be. In some ways I'll miss the person I am now and who I was, but in other ways I'll be happy that I've grown. No matter what, we all still carry pieces of our past with us, there are some things we never outgrow.

To refrain from allowing this to become an overly sentimental piece I'll simply say: We're all growing up and there's no reason to fight it.

Maybe being able to face this means I've grown up just a bit more.