I don’t know what it is, but every year that goes by seems to go a little faster.

As we once again get into the holiday season, it seems to me that it was only a few weeks ago that it was Thanksgiving and Christmas of last year, or even the year before.

That speeding progression of time has been brought home to me especially this year on a family vacation with my oldest daughter, Jocelyn; her husband, Jeremy; and their four children: Jaime, Michele, Lewis and Geneva.

This year we went to Florida — which, as trips to Florida must — included spending some time with Jeremy’s beloved Mema, who just recently turned 93, and who can tell you all about how much faster the time goes by as you get older.

When it comes time to think of things we are thankful for or to celebrate during the Christmas season, being able to visit once again with this very special lady ranks at the top of the list, especially for Jeremy, who has fond memories of spending every summer with Mema during his childhood.

He says that seeing her and being in her home brings back his best memories of being a kid — hours of playing in the yard, swimming in the small lake behind her house, fishing from the dock, climbing trees, skinning knees, reading stories and just being loved.

Jeremy never knew his career-Navy grandfather, who died of a heart attack just a few months before he was born. But he sure knows the stories of his service, of the ceremonial sword that hangs on the wall in Mema’s dining room and the medals that adorn a shadow box beside the sword.

He knows from the photos in Mema’s bedroom and on the walls in the living room that he looks a lot like his grandfather. He knows — and increasingly, his kids also know — that his grandfather and their great-grandfather was a hero who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

What occurred to me as I watched Mema lovingly share stories of the sword — not a weapon worn in battle but intended for ceremonial occasions with a dress uniform — and the man who spent his entire adult life in service to America, is what a hero SHE was then and still is today.

While he trained and fought, she raised three daughters, handled the multiple moves and reassignments so familiar to military families, held everything together, and welcomed him home when he could be home. And when he finally retired and they moved to a nice Florida community with a nearby Navy base and commissary, he died.

She was a single grandmother, and from seeing how much my sons-in-law (my daughters married brothers and she is Mema to both, but that’s another story) adore her, I know she rocked the role. She was, and is, a generous, loving, Christian lady whose heart overflows with love.

On this visit, the kids had a chance to get just a taste of how special she is. I hope and pray that I can be to them just a percentage of the grandmother she was to my boys. I’m reminded one more time how fast time goes by, how important it is to be grateful for the time we have together, and how silly it is to pass up any opportunity to share a hug and an “I love you.”

To you and yours for the 2017 holiday season: May you have an abundance of peace, joy and the love of family and friends.