Skip to main content

Being Aunty B

I have been Aunty B officially for 18 years. I have unofficially been Aunty B a bit longer than that. I have 5 nieces and nephews. I have countless other children in my life that I love, invest in and spend time with. I think about them all often even if I haven't seen them in a long time.

Being Aunty B is very important to me. It might be one of the most amazing and enjoyable things I do in my life. I am not amazing. What is amazing, is the opportunity to build relationships with little people to help them become great big people.

My oldest niece just turned 18. She graduated and is now heading off to Calgary to work and live. While my Aunty B heart is sad that she is leaving, it is also incredibly excited for her. I have always been a bit different from my siblings in the sense that I travelled a lot. I lived overseas for a few years and always look at life as an adventure.

Seeing my oldest niece start to learn that on her own makes me very proud. She is a rather fantastic young woman regardless. I love her to bits and can honestly say we have a great relationship. At a family get together yesterday her and I laughed a lot, simply because. She is smart, beautiful, courageous and kind.

I know she will do well. I jokingly bet her $20 that when she comes back for a visit at Christmas it will be to stay. I don't really think she will. I have every confidence in her. I also think it will be great for her to learn on her own.

I will also be reminding her that success is not always defined by other people when it comes to how we live our lives. It is in the doing, it is in the intent, it is in the lessons learned. Some learn by doing. Some learn by reading. Some learn by observing. Some learn by all of the above. And when we learn, we grow.

Hopefully we grow into better people, more honest and caring. Hopefully we become more compassionate towards others. Hopefully we realise life isn't just about us.

Now I will have to plan a trip to Calgary sooner rather than later.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Safety

I should be doing homework. I have to give a presentation on Dorothy Day in class next week and she lived a large life. I also have to submit a 15-18 page paper on her. Yet I had to stop after reading just a summary of her life. She did a lot. She lived what she believed without fear. She went to prison on a few occasions for the causes she believed in. It got me thinking about my own life and where I am currently. I do not go out often anymore. People do not invite me out much. Only a few people text or call me regularly or message me on social media. Often when I have made plans over the past year or so I have changed or cancelled them for one reason or another. I can see why people do not automatically think to invite me out. (Ha ha.) Yet I also see how I got to this point in life. During Covid, I almost thrived being home a lot. A part of me was tired and the introvert in me needed time away. It was safe. Now that life has returned to a normal of sorts, maybe a new normal that is n...

Hmm...how's this for an intro?

Well here is my first blog post. I thought the title 'B S' is great considering those are my initials. No hidden meaning there either. I have no idea how often I will post on here but I hope those who read it enjoy. My life is certainly never dull. The potential for great conversation is immense. I also hope to inspire and encourage others through this... Thanks for joining me!

Pick your battles...

Apparently I have chosen yet another battle. Although can it be a battle if the other side simply dismisses you? Maybe not. I saw PETA's banned Super Bowl ad purely by chance. I was on a web site showing all the ads as I did not watch the game. When it first came on I thought it was a Victoria's Secret commercial. Then I see vegetables in the ad. It was PETA. So I sent an email. Scantily clad women performing mock sex acts with produce is not my idea of intelligent advertising. It lowers the bar. It is exploiting women. I sent them an email expressing that opinion. They disagree. It seems it is ok to demean women (at least this is my opinion) for the sake of animals. Yet I do not see that ad generating more support for the cause of animal rights. Is it controversial? Yes. Does it get people talking? Clearly. Yet it does not get people talking intelligently about the real issue - that of preventing cruelty to animals. Why don't they raise the bar in advert...