I am sure everyone knows that there is such thing as a “cool aunt.” You know, the one aunt you only see on major holidays but brought you some cool toys or when you got older, money.

The one who you are friends with on Facebook and that is the only time you see what she is up to.

The one who you always thought to yourself, “Man, she is the best. I love seeing her at Christmas. She always has the craziest stories and sticks up for me to my Mom.”

I want to be NONE of that for my nephew.

At this point in my life, I only have one nephew. As he is reaching the age of five, I realize that he needs me more than I ever thought he did.

When he was first born, I was determined to get him to “like me the best.”

You know, buy him toys, play his favorite videos, etc. (I am not sure why I was so determined to do this, maybe it was the 14-year-old in me trying to be better than my sister at everything.)

But now, I see he doesn’t need another person to buy him a Lego set.

He needs another person to give him a hug.

He needs to feel that someone cares for him, so he knows that when life gets rough, he can always call on his someone.

We all know life isn’t easy, and when I see my nephew, all I see is that I never want life to be so hard for him. But I know it will because we cannot escape whatever life throws at us.

I do not think I have ever had so much love for a person like I have for him. He is the sweetest, most caring, goofiest little boy I have ever met.

I cannot wait to watch him grow up to have even more qualities while I stay on the sidelines cheering him on ready to help him with open arms.