Being an aunt is even better than being a mom. You get all the loving, with none of the snark, and you get to send them home! Growing up, I didn’t know this. I didn’t even know if I’d get to be an aunt. I was an only child, so I knew I’d have to count on a husband, and, for a while there, it looked like I wasn’t gonna have one of those, either. So, when I met my husband and he had a picture of two little blonde, blue-eyed cuties on his fridge, my “aunt-radar” went up.
Okay, so my niece was actually bald at the time. She was pretty much bald until two. But, man, they were cute. Around Christmas, Eric’s brother and sister-in-law, Chad and Virginia, sent a photo of their kids sitting side-by-side in little Christmas outfits, big eyes, pudgy cheeks, and little dimpled hands. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them!
Since they lived in Colorado and then California, I didn’t get to meet them until the following May, when Emma was beginning to walk and Gary was big into “workin’” with power tools. Gary was too busy (and shy) to be bothered by me. So I followed Emma around, chatting with her, reading her books, and cracking up when she put her hands on the floor to “climb” over the door jamb.
The next Christmas found Chad’s family living in Saginaw! I got to watch Emma and Gary open presents, and thoroughly enjoyed the new title of “Aunt Aura.” This time, Gary decided he could give up a little work time to play hide-n-seek with me. So, he hid in the same spot (the pantry), and I went around looking in ridiculous places (the silverware drawer, the toilet) and said, “Where’s Gary? Hhhmmm, I can’t seem to find him. Has anyone seen Gary?”
Every time, his little voice called out, “I’m in the pantry, Aunt Aura! I’m in the pantry!” Eventually I made a big production of looking in the pantry and--what??--there was Gary! My favorite Gary memory of all time.
That March, I got the thrill of a lifetime: my niece Gracie was born! I was able to see Virginia many times during her pregnancy and feel Gracie moving around in her belly. On the day her c-section was scheduled, I told my students, “Good Morning! My niece Gracie is being born today!” in a slightly psychotic, high pitched squeal. During my students’ grammar lesson, when I got the call announcing Gracie’s successful arrival. I jumped up and down and screamed, “She’s here! She’s here! Woohoo! I’m an aunt again!” That weekend, Eric, our Emma, and I drove down to Saginaw. When I walked in the door, I proclaimed, “Hand her over, people. I’m here to see my baby!” I held Gracie, fed her, changed her diaper, and pretty much never put her down. To this day, at 11-years-old, she’s still ‘my baby.’
My nephew and nieces have lived in California, Colorado, Saginaw, Gaylord, and then--much to my dismay--New Bern, North Carolina. Wherever they live, they are an immense blessing to me. I get to have deep talks with them, joke with them, love on them, “middle name them” (Grace Frances said to me “Aunt Laura, you scare me a little sometimes.” Exactly, Gracie.), and watch them grow. But we don’t have the strain of day-to-day life, the struggle for independence from me that my children and I have to go through. All the love, very little of the drama.
I never imagined being an aunt. It’s a love I didn’t know I was missing, until these three came along and stole my heart. Now I can’t fathom life without them. Captain Sweatpants, Lil E, and G-Money, Aunt Laura loves you!
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