1995: My brother became a big brother at the age of 14.
2001: I became a sister-in-law at the age of 6.
2007: I became an aunt at the age of 13.
2011: I became an aunt for the second time at the age of 16.
Weird timelines run in my family. It's kind of our thing to do our own thing. Because of this, I got to really bond with the people around me who went through similar situations, and my family grew really close. We lived through the bad and the good together. (Life's all about balance, right?) When I was in sixth grade, my mom sat me down and told me that I was going to be an aunt. I freaked out. I didn't think that it was possible to be an aunt when I wasn't even in middle school yet. By the next fall, though, I had a little bundle of joy who would eventually call me aunt. Just a few years later, I had two nephews to worry about. I realized really quickly that your age doesn't matter when it comes to family, but your heart does.
The minute I held my nephew in 2007, I became more than just a middle school kid. I became a best friend. An aunt's duty is not to raise or reprimand or to stress out about children. But it is an aunt's duty to love, protect and buy toys when they really don't need any more.
The best thing that came from taking on such a big role at such a young age, though, was the amount of responsibility that I learned. Changing diapers in a grocery store, attending preschool graduations the same week as high school graduation and picking up little ones from school after a long week at college made me a better person. They have prepared me for absolutely anything life could throw my way in the near or far future. It's crazy how much one person can love two little beings that aren't her own.
I never would have imagined that I would be sitting here, writing this article, with two wild boys sitting on my lap trying not to fall asleep. Today, they are both in school and love to read and learn, which makes me so incredibly proud. They're curious and busy and ridiculously energetic. I love the fact that God chose me to be best friends with two wonderful little souls. I can't imagine them belonging to anyone else now, and sharing in their pain and happiness is the best part of my weeks.
Watching them grow up and become little men is something that has become a priority in my crazy life. They keep me grounded. It's really hard to imagine life without them now. They bring my family together like nothing I could have ever imagined.
2016: I became the loud, crazy aunt at the age of 21.
