Both of us were having problems falling asleep, and it must have been nearly one o'clock in the morning. All of a sudden my wife broke the dark silence by speaking her mind.

"You know," she said. "I just thought of something really strange."

I mumbled back, pretending that I had almost fallen asleep when I hadn't really. "And what might that be?"

"Well, can you believe it that in just four years our two oldest children will have left the house for good?"

No answer from me, I had to think it over. Hard to imagine, I had to admit to myself.

She continued, "That's a weird idea, don't you think?"

Yes, a very weird idea. Four years is not that long of a time at all.

Seems like the older one gets the faster time flies by. As if the speed of time grows exponentially as the years go by. Doesn't seem fair now does it?