Comic Strip of the Day

CSotD: When did this happen?

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Mike Peterson Published: October 8, 2012 1 minute 3 comments

A bit of well-timed subtlety from Sandra Bell Lundy at Between Friends. 

Subtle in that you may have to look twice to get the point and I suspect a lot of readers will be scratching their heads over this one. "Subtle" is not much prized in mass media, especially when the artwork is shrunken down to postage-stamp dimensions.

Well-timed in that this semester, my eldest granddaughter is taking driver's ed (which is something of a wake-up call in itself) at a time that leaves her with 90 minutes to kill between the end of cross-country practice and the start of class. Since she doesn't live in town, the solution has been Dinner with Grandpa.

Sentimentally, I will always think of her as the little flower girl I danced with at her uncle's wedding, and she's still that.

But our Monday conversations are about life and politics and people, and, as Kim has in today's strip, I've realized that she's turning into the adult she's about to become.

It's a good thing. Just, yeah, a little startling. And, as in Kim's case, only startling to the adult, not in the least to the kid.

But it's still startling, even the second time around.

And those moments come at different times, almost always unexpectedly, beginning when they get the first of their adult teeth and their soft little round heads start to change shape and turn into the faces they will wear through life.

After that, the moments become more personal and individual.

Like when it's time to put down the family dog and you find yourself standing back and watching as a 12-year-old, at his own insistence, comes along to the vet's and gently holds and comforts the dog he grew up with, until it is over. 

Listening as your son explains his dilemma: He'll finally get a shot at starting on the hockey team in this, his senior year, but the schedule is going to make it impossible for him to work at the music store. And then he throws the practice schedule in the trash because he needs to honor his commitment to the people who broke shop tradition and hired a kid.

Watching your son and stepdaughter walk away together, laughing and talking, after you've dropped him off at her apartment in Boston so he can report to boot camp in the morning.

Meeting your son's college girlfriend and thinking don't-screw-this-up-don't-screw-this-up-don't-screw-this-up and then — about six years later — you get to dance with his niece.

Everyone in the world has recorded this song, but here's the original version by Malvina Reynolds, who wrote it:

Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.