One of those moments

I don't have a picture for this, but given the whole idea of this project is to capture 2012 in full, I cannot go without mentioning one of the most amazing moments of my life. And as I've always treated this blog as something for myself for keeping memories - and less about entertaining people ("people" being the only other 2 people who actually read this) or brushing up on my writing skills - I certainly have to capture this.

My brother Chris told me that my oldest niece Katie is writing a paper on me. The topic is "someone you admire or has a positive effect on your life." The first time I read that I welled up. (As I just typed that I got a bit teary again actually.) It's one of those moments that just made me stop. (Kairos time, remember?) Stop and soak in the overwhelming feeling this news had on me. It may be an every day occurrence for a parent to realize the impact they have on a child's life, but it was a first for me as an aunt. It's hard for me to even put into words. (In fact, I just tried for the last 20 minutes and nothing's coming out right, so I'll just stop trying.)

The funny thing about it is that typically when I have one of my "moments" with Katie - a heart to heart - I don't even think she's listening to me. She's the biggest ball of energy I think I've ever seen and the girl can't sit still. She's like the cartoon character the Road Runner after 5 red bulls and an eight ball. So I'm never sure if I have her attention. But perhaps those chats aren't why she decided to pick me for her paper. Perhaps it's something else.

Whatever it is, I feel like I've just won the Nobel Peace Prize or something. I mean I really feel honored. I have always loved the role of aunt (and godmother) but to hear from Katie that I may actually be having a positive effect on my her life is immense.

Hopefully she doesn't have such writer's block that she instead decides to write about "what she wants to do this summer".