Ten years

 Where did ten years go? I am sitting here sipping bourbon and water watching Robin wrap Meg's birthday presents, and I wonder where the last ten years went.

 Ten years ago we were sitting at the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, lovingly referred to as CHOMP, waiting for Meghan to come into our life. I was a 23 year old Lance Corporal in the Marines, and Robin was my 20 year old wife. We were young and clueless, and had no idea how much this 7 lb, 15 oz. ball of blonde mischief was going to change our life.

 Cue 4 years of sleepless nights, tending a sick kid from time to time, and generally trying to figure out how to be parents on the fly. Some times we did alright, other times we could have done much better, but we were learning as we went. Eventually she learned to talk, learned to sleep in her own bed, and somewhere along the line she grew into a beautiful, hard-headed young woman.

 Eventually we'll figure out what we are doing.

 Now I'm a 33 year old veteran, working in the Federal Prison system, something I never thought I would be doing, and Robin is 30 and fighting cancer, which we also never expected. We have three beautiful children now, including the aforementioned middle-schooler. I couldn't imagine life without them.

 And you know, I wouldn't change a thing. Except for maybe the cancer.