Sometimes Being an Aunt Hurts

I love my nephews more than they will ever know. They put a smile on my face even when I am hurting. They motivate me to be better. They make me question why I do things.

But some days being an aunt hurts. I hurt when I can't be with them. Just the other day, I wished I could be helping my oldest nephew trace his letters. I wanted to help him learn everything at that moment. My mom came home, and my brain was bursting with words that began with different letters of the alphabet. "B is for bankrupt! T is for tractor! Or what about elephant, garage, Gram, octopus, old?" I said. "Did you think of those words while helping him?

After thinking about it and talking with my mom, I realized I wanted to make everything easy for Mason. I wanted him to have the best environment every day, one that was conducive to learning and growing. I wished I could have been there to read to him, but the fact was I couldn't be there.

Life is not perfect. "Really, Mason needs to go through adversity," I told Mama. "He doesn't need everything to be simple and easy. Adversity will make him stronger. I know because it made me stronger."

You see, I now understand just a tiny bit of what my mom went through raising my brother and I. She often tells me of the hard things I went through as a child. A part of her wanted to make things easier for me, but she knew she had to be firm so that I would be independent. I am SO thankful for that. 

Mason will be strong because of life's curveballs. It's okay that I wasn't able to help him that night. He will still learn and grow. I just have to trust God in the midst of those heart-wrenching moments. Auntie will not always be with Mason and Bryson, but my prayers cover them wherever they are.