This is a bit of an introspective, rambling post and has no knitting/spinning content (gasp!) or photos so you might want to give it a miss. I'll understand. :-)
Today I became a Great-Aunt. I hope I've always been a great aunt but now it is written with capital letters and sounds all impressive.
My niece, Amy, gave birth to a son, Connor Scott, at 4.32am Australian Central Summer Time, 9th May 2007. He weighs 5lbs 14oz and is 18 inches long. Both mother and baby are doing well.
I very clearly remember Amy being born. I was 27, my sister 19. Amy's my oldest niece and her birth marked the second time I became an aunt. She was a tiny thing with enormous blue eyes. Her middle name is Leigh and I used to call her 'Amy Flea' which made her giggle madly. She had many endearing (and irritating!) habits as a kid. One that has always stuck out in my mind and made me laugh was Amy flicking through the pages of a photo album saying 'so cute, so cute' at every page even though she was really going way too fast to see any of the photos. It doesn't sound like much but it was hilarious at the time. I can't remember how old she was but definitely younger than 6 years old.
I've never wanted kids of my own but really enjoy being an aunt even though I live so far away these days. I haven't seen Amy since she was 10 and now she is a mother. That just bowls me over and makes me think about families, how far away I am from mine and how much I miss them. Its times like this when I really feel the overwhelming tug of homesickness and want desperately to go back to Australia. I know its a passing thing and I don't really want to leave the UK yet. One day, however...
I've always felt a bit ambivalent about Amy's pregnancy because she is only 16 and to me that is far too young to become a mother. Today, putting aside all 'might have beens' and 'if onlys', I'm just celebrating the fact that they are both fine and I am a Great-Aunt.
Wow.
