Recently, I had the chance to see a band live in concert on their ‘reunion’ tour of sorts – for the first time in nine years. While getting the chance to see this group again for the first time in a long time was something special all on its own, it also gave me the opportunity to reflect on life. To be honest, it made me feel a bit sentimental about my own life and how much growth I’ve seen over the last nine years.

There’s nothing wrong with romanticizing your life, and in a way, I think that’s what I’ve done when reflecting on the last nine years. The last time I saw this band, I was 22 years old and still maybe a little lost. The last time I saw this band – at this same venue, in fact – my dad was kind enough to provide transportation. Now, of course, he’s long since passed on.

It’s wild how time flies, and so much can change in a span of (in this case) nine years. Today, I’m 31, happily married for nearly six years and working a full-time job that I’ve been at for nearly eight years. I finally have a driver’s license and a car – two things I was still seeking back then – and in a few months, I’ll be moving to a new apartment. (It’ll be the fourth place I’ve called home since 2013). My life feels stable, healthy, comfortable – all great things. If you would’ve told me back in 2013 that I’d be where I am right now, my mind would’ve been blown.

And if you would’ve told 22-year-old me that I’d get to see that band again someday, at the same venue, but with very different life circumstances – and bringing my husband along to the concert – I would’ve shook my head at you and laughed.

Thinking about time in this way makes me think about how it also moves differently over the span of our lives. As an example, nine years ago, one of my nephews wasn’t even born yet. (He was born in late July 2013). These years have been the entirety of his LIFE, and yet only a small part of mine. If I think I’ve experienced growth and development in my life over the years, I need only look at his life to see just how much can happen in a period of time.

As the kids would say: it made me feel some type of way.