The sadness of Puff

This post goes along with my post about Gabriel turning three. Last week I was sad to hear about the passing of Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary. I dug out my Best of PP & M CD, which is the same as my parents' album I listened to as a kid. I love many of the songs, and of course grew up listening to Puff, The Magic Dragon. But even as a youngster I could sense something sad about that song. I think I thought it was really sad that Puff had no one to play with after the boy moved onto other things.

I played the song for Gabriel on the way home from Mother's Day Out. When they got to the last verse, and the words go, "A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys," it hit me that I was listening to the song for the first time as a parent, and the sadness took on a whole new level. My baby has turned into a toddler, and it's truly just flown by. Needless to say, I almost had to pull over with tears running down my face and Gabriel asking, "Mama are you ok?" repeatedly from the back seat. Maybe it's good to be reminded of how fast they grow up so that I will try to enjoy every living second of having him little, before the dragon ceases his fearless roar.