Juniper with Daddy and Aunt Lizzie

Juniper with Daddy and Aunt Lizzie, originally uploaded by wibbet_64.

Wow! I'm an Aunt. Ok, I've been called "Aunt Lizzie" for a dozen years or more by three of the greatest kids in the world, but they belong to women I count as heart-sisters. This little girl belongs to my brother, Thomas. The same blood runs through her veins and mine. She is a miracle, as everyone in the family had long-since given up hope of continuing the family line.

Then along came Juniper.

She looks a lot like her mom, but has her daddy's eyes. Andie says she's very serious, which I'm certain she gets from my mother.

Thomas, always very cavalier about life, is a completely different person. Juniper is the center of his universe, and he's completely besotted. He goes all goofy when he holds her, and he can't stand to be farther than a couple of feet from her. That was very obvious from the way he followed her as different people got a chance to hold her.

He told us that for the past 20 years he's always had this 90 day itinerary in his mind. Why plan farther out than that, right? In the past few weeks he's decided he's going to stay in San Francisco, they're putting Junebug on the waiting list for the French International School (tuition is outrageous but the education unsurpassable), and he's taken out a $2million life insurance policy!

He was telling us about the week he's had. "Tuesday I was in Nevada, starting my non-profit. Monday we met with the insurance agent and took out a life insurance policy, Thursday we flew out here. And Wednesday we went to the courthouse and got married." He said it was perfect. They were on the top steps of the rotunda, with fabulous views, and the Justice of the Peace was there in her long robes, gray hair, and nose ring. Only in San Francisco!

All too soon they had to leave. But I get to see her a few more times before she goes home.

Wow. I'm an Auntie.