I had my two older boys and a little time to kill this morning.

“What should we do? We have an hour,” I said.

“Starbucks.”

Seriously? I was floored. But since I could totally use another cup of joe, I agreed. The closest one was at the local mall.

After we ordered (frapaccino for one, ice coffee for the other and regular coffee for me), we sat down. The boys didn’t want to talk really. They wanted to absorb the Starbuck’s vibe.

I am not kidding. This was their first visit…ever.

Had I really deprived them of this American iconic experience for so long? Shocking, I know.

But what really got me is that my teenage boys like coffee.

And the fact that the Starbuck’s is right beside the carousel where I used to take these same children to ‘kill time’ just a few years ago (well, it seems like just a few years ago to me so stop laughing), did not escape me.

So while the boys were absorbing the vibe, I was watching the young mothers and fathers with their little kids on the merry-go-round. I was remembering how my oldest only liked the stationary horses and how my youngest laughed out loud as the speed increased.

I went back to the time when I had to lift my guys up; they couldn’t climb that high on their own. They had soft cheeks and wet kisses and their hugs felt like they’d last forever.

They are still these boys; the same but different.

I love who they are growing to be…and every step along the way.