I know my mom is getting older. Seeing it is different from knowing it.

The author has lived abroad half her life. Courtesy of the author I've lived about half of my adult life either overseas or traveling. It's been more than 13 years since we've lived on the same continent. My perspective on our relationship and the one with my own daughter is shifting in real time. Time is a funny thing, mostly because it's a construct, but it has a way of forcing people to see things differently, even when they might not want to. I hadn't spent long stretches of time with my mom until her recent visit. After she left, I began to reflect on how the years — and distance — have changed us both. The picture I have of her has stayed mostly the same over the years, but this visit shifted something: I'm now more aware of her aging , and of my own.