When I started making decisions on my own,

That’s when I first realized,

I was growing up.

 

When I applied for college,

Left home and moved into the dorms,

Set up several ‘back-up’ alarms,

And started missing home,

I understood,

I was growing up.

 

When I started my first job,

Was proud of my first very own income,

And finally realized how hard my parents had to work,

I felt,

I was growing up.

 

When I started calling my mother more than she called me,

I knew,

I was growing up.

 

When I started saving quarters, dimes, nickels, and cents,

Just like my father,

I realized,

I was growing up.

 

When instead of eating out,

I told myself, “But there’s food at home.”

I understood,

I was growing up.

 

When I remembered that in a year,

I would no longer be a teen,

I felt,

I was growing up.

 

When I realized that there really was no substitute for hard work,

And learnt to love my major,

I knew,

I was growing up.

 

But alas,

When everything I did made me think,

“My parents were right about that, too.”

That’s when it truly hit me;

I was at the end of the cycle and all grown up.