13 Years Ago Today

I became an aunt 13 years ago today. I was 14 years old and always wished I could be a "big sister." My niece, Gabrielle, is such an amazing little girl young lady. She is not your typical teenager. She's polite, incredibly smart, sweet and so much fun to be around. She inspires me to be a better person. I couldn't find any of the pictures of us from the first time we met (pre digital camera days and my photo albums are in a box somewhere upstairs) but I did find this picture. Mike and I had just started dating and he went with me to my sister's house which was a few hours away from our college. Gabrielle took a liking to him right away--she enjoyed coloring his "Walter" name tag on his Pepsi shirt and he even let her color his tattoos in with magic marker. =)

We don't get to see each other nearly as much as I'd like. Thanks to the Army, we've lived about as far apart as we could get the past several years. Her dad just retired from Active Duty and they're finally able to settle for more than a few years at a time. I get to see Gabrielle and her brother Ben in a few weeks when I go to Ohio. :)

I still can't believe she's 13. I'm far too young to be the aunt of a teenager. =)