you know you're old when ...

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Your seventeen year old nephew has passed his driving test. These days he's a kid you'd probably be friends with if you were young again and at sixth form. He's a little bit dorky, highly ambitious, incredibly intelligent {he's hoping to get into Oxbridge} and very friendly. He gets on well with both adults and his peer group, belongs to all sorts of clubs and once {until very recently} had dreams of being an Olympic swimmer. But to you he'll always be that tiny little baby you held in your arms, in a proud and adoring Oh my goodness gracious, I'm an Auntie for the very first time! way. You look at him and see reflections of the men and women who came before him. Your house is full of photographs of him growing up, baby to toddler, and little kid to bigger kid. Scraps of paper can be found in various drawers and boxes with maps and pylons drawn on them. An occasional little note from an eight year old finds its way onto the fridge, and then gets put away again. Your favourite video is a really short one of your nephew aged six, telling a joke in a very bad way with a newly acquired Welsh lilt. And now, not only are you old, but your nephew has managed to pass his driving test before you. *sigh* Where does the time speed away to?