A Year of Gratitude #21

  

A Year of Gratitude #21: My Nieces and Nephews

 

Alex

 

Eamon

 

Aine

 

Benton

 

Lily

 

Charlotte

I am a proud aunt. When my oldest brother called me in 2002 to tell me that he and Heather were pregnant, I was at Aimee and Amy's apartment. I remember being overjoyed, emotional, and so excited I couldn't stand it. The first thing I wanted to do was call my ex-husband (we were separated but not yet divorced) and tell him. I was so sad that I'd be Aunt Cathy but there'd be no Uncle to go with my name...

Eamon was born on April 25th, 2003 and I can remember so vividly where I was when Dave called me to tell me that I was an aunt. I was standing in the market area of Key West, Florida. I was on a spring break cruise with Amy and Krissy and we were spending the day shopping in Key West. I was so excited I cried.

Scott met Christie in 2007 and they got pregnant with Lily the same weekend that I met her for the first time (lol). I met Christie's son Alex (my nephew) for the first time in Washington D.C. in November of 2007. I was nervous to meet Christie because I knew Scott really had feelings for her and it was serious, but I was also nervous to meet her son. Alex was as cute as can be, so sweet, and very chatty. He invited Steve and I to his birthday party (December).

In July of 2004, Steve and I went to Phoenix to visit my brother and Heather. Steve and I had just started dating (March of 2004), but we were serious and had moved into our house together. Soon after our visit, Dave and Heather announced that they were pregnant with Aine. I remember thinking that it was going to be so awesome to be Aunt Cathy and Uncle Steve! Aine was born in February of 2005.

Benton was born in March of 2008 and he is the last child of Dave and Heather's. I cried and cried when I saw the pictures of his birth and was so touched to see my brother and his children present my SIL a birthday cake for Benton's birthday. It was her last birth and while a bit sad, it was beautiful that she was able to have her final labor experience be all that she had hoped.

When Scott called me to tell me that he and Christie were pregnant... I had a bit of a different reaction. At the time, Steve and I had been trying to get pregnant for two years and had been having zero luck. I was so deeply torn by the news... sad for myself that I couldn't have the same joy and momentous news to share with my siblings, but happier than I ever thought I could be to know that my twin brother was going to be a father. Lily was born in August of 2009.

I cried and cried when Scott told me that I was an aunt. Not only because I was happy, but also because I couldn't be there to be apart of the moment. I didn't know when I'd get to go back to MI to see her, and it KILLED me to have yet another niece/nephew and not be there to watch them grow up.

We went home in October of 2009 and I got to hold her for the first time. I was magical to hold her... even at two months... I felt a cosmic connection to her. She was absolutely perfect and coupled with my infertility, I was holding the thing I wanted more than anything on this Earth.

Then Gus was born, we were in MI for two months, came home to NC in July of 2010 and I got a call from Scott around September (my parents were visiting us over Labor Day) telling me that he and Christie were pregnant again. My niece Charlotte (Charlie) was born May 13, 2011... one year and two days after Gus's birth.

I feel so blessed to have the children in my family call me their aunt. I love them immensely and they're the kids that shared my love and affection until Gus came along. Each has their own unique personality, gifts, talents, and individual sense of humor. They share characteristics of my siblings that I find incredible.

There's nothing like watching your siblings become parents and making your parents grandparents. Each little person has changed our family and made it better, and I'm so thankful for each of them.

My favorite thing is when I get a random post card, letter, or phone call from them. It brings joy to my heart unlike anything else.

I want Gus to be a big brother for many reasons, but mainly, so that he can know the joy of being an uncle someday. I want him to have siblings to fight with, laugh with, and create memories with, and then I want him to be an uncle to his sibling(s) children.

There's nothing like being an aunt or uncle, and I'm so thankful to have the little people in my family call me their Aunt Cathy.