Sunday, February 10, 2008

Happy 19th Birthday!

I always say that 19 was one of my favorite year. I couldn't say for sure why I say that. I was a sophomore in college, I was living off-campus, I had a boyfriend who had a car (a fast one), I was taking interesting classes, I changed my major from home economics to English... Maybe 19 was the first time I felt like I knew who I was and what I wanted to do. Whatever the reason, it stands out in my memory as a good year.

Today is my youngest niece's 19th birthday. Our family celebrated yesterday, but today is the day. I remember it clear as a bell. She was born in the same hospital I was, although many years later. It was a Friday, as I recall. My mother called me from the hospital to say the baby was born. I was so excited, I could hardly wait for my class to finish so I could drive the 45 minutes to the hospital to see her. I remember rushing up to the OB floor and meeting my mother at the entrance to the unit. I fell in love with Kait the minute I set eyes on her. She had an immense amount of dark hair and was such an adorable baby!

When she was three, I took a year off from teaching and was nanny for her and her baby brother. We had a great time together, although sadly she doesn't remember much if anything of that time. Nineteen years later, we are still close and enjoy hanging out together. What a lucky aunt I am!

2 comments:

Heidi said...

She's 19 already? My how time flies. But that makes sense since we moved to Massachusetts about 10 years ago. My how time flies. Between this and the GRAY, GRAY skies and the gray hairs, I think I'm feeling old right now. Thanks, Rondi! :-)

La Tea Dah said...

Happy birthday to Kait! Wonderful post today as you walked down memory lane.

There is a blog I'd like you to visit, as you need to be linked there. I cannot find contact information so you can be added in, but maybe you will be more successful than I am. It's a blog by Ken McFarland at this URL:

http://kennmakk.wordpress.com/blog-potluck/

Have you read any of his writing/books?

Enjoy a lovely day!
LaTeaDah

PS: At nineteen I was also in the valley of decision -- choosing between the same two majors you were deciding between. I made the other choice, but love both options even yet.