When you're a teenager you hear the words "you're too young" and "you think you know it all, but you don't" a lot more than you hear "that is a good point". When I was younger I had this misconception of teenagehood that painted a picture in my head of great cars, lots of friends, and most of all, freedom. The further and further I advance in teenagehood, though, I realize that that picture I painted to myself once upon a time was far from the truth.

I remember riding in my mom's car watching the radiant skies and warm concrete pass by quickly. It seems like it was yesterday but in reality it was already three years ago. During that time my parents and I saw perfectly eye-to-eye 24/7. But as I am getting older, the more I realize that my views are beginning to differ greatly in certain aspects. I don't argue with them constantly or anything, but on views that we used agree on I am beginning to seperate from. I guess it comes with age. As you grow older, you reach a point when you start to test what your parents' used to say and actually begin to formulate your own opinions that may be similar or polar to your parents' own beliefs or opinions. And to be honest I miss the days when I felt like my parents and I agreed on everything. It was a safety net that I am beginning to fall through. It is frightening to see myself being distanced from my parents in ways that are new and uncharted for me.

I guess what I am trying to say is that when I had that picture of cars and freedom in my head I was excited. Now that I am here, I am just scared. Isn't it funny that as we get older we exchange one fear for another. When I was five, I was once afraid of the dark and now i exchanged that fear for the fear of distance and my future. Even though I am approaching that time to be an adult, I keep finding myself wanting my mom and dad to pull me close and comfort me like they once were able to do when I was five. I guess what I want is time to just stop.