"Okay, honey," I gasped, never thinking I'd actually have to peel her arms from my body. "What do you think you'd like to do today?"
She grinned and her eyes crinkled with excitement. "You wanna go to da pawk wid me??" she squealed.
My sister, already exhausted from the drive alone, said to me, "Yes indeed, we drove all the way here to go to a park," and then laughed and shook her head.
I convinced my niece to hit the park later and soon, we were off an running. Despite a few hours of crappy weather, the weekend went off without a hitch. There was the zoo, pizza and ice cream, the children's museum, and a general wandering around in the "big" city streets which my niece found fascinating. At one point, she took off running on a patio, got caught up on her darling new flip flops and completely wiped out. Considering that this kid can walk into a brick wall without crying, we knew we were in trouble when the wailing erupted. Sure enough, a bloody knee.
Two minutes later, when the knee had gotten mommy's kiss and the tears had subsided, she was off again. Unfortunately, the same exact thing happened again. My poor sweet girl.
Shortly after in the car, my always observant niece caught the reflection of my face in the rearview mirror.
"Why you got a sad face, Waitzel?" she asked from the back seat.
"Well, I guess I feel sad that you hurt yourself," I said.
"Don't be sad," she said. (Did I detect a sing-songy motherly tone?) "I not sad. I happy so you be happy, too, k?"
In the front seat, my sister and I looked at one another with the same exact look on our faces. How did we get so lucky to have this kid in our lives?
"Okay, honey," I said, smiling. "'I'm happy. You're right. There's so much for us to be happy about."
An hour later, I was waving goodbye to them, trying not to feel crushed about their departure. Instead, I focused on the peanut's sweet face in her car seat and her exclamation of, "LOOK! I WEAR MY PRINCESS JAMMIES HOME!"
After all, if she's happy, I'm happy. Before she came into my life, I never knew that aunties could feel such a bond with their nieces and nephews. I'm not talking about the stereotypical I adore this kid so much that I'm gonna spoil the crap out of her every time I see her kind of love. I'm talking about the I'm gonna move back to Wisconsin to see her grow up kind of love.
The past year has been really, really crazy but also incredibly enlightening. It wasn't easy for me to leave New York or Berlin but my decision is reinforced every day. I am indeed learning what is really important to me and that little blonde girl with the bloody knee might just top the list. Not only is she an absolute joy to be around but her simple words of wisdom are completely inspiring to me.
Can't wait for visit #2. Stay tuned for The Return of the Peanut.
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