Julie

Fifty years ago today I knew that I had made the right choice when I accepted my beloved's marriage proposal.

We were in the mountains with his college fraternity and a bunch of friends. We had played in the snow all day and were sitting by the fire talking when the chaperon came looking for me. (Do college fraternity parties still have chaperons?) I had a phone call. I had left the phone number to the lodge with my mom in case of emergency. I was a bit nervous as I hurried to the office to take the call. I knew from the tone of mom's voice that she had good news. “Sue, you're an aunt. You have a niece. Everyone is fine. The baby is healthy. Her name is Julie.” This was indeed exciting and wonderful news. My brother and his wife had just become parents and I was an aunt. I had never been an aunt before. I was bubbling over with the joy of it all. I went running back down the stairs telling everyone that I had just become an aunt. People just glanced up and said that's nice. No one seemed to understand how grand this piece of news was to me. I finally found my beloved and shared my exciting, wonderful news. He hugged me and asked me to tell him everything. He wanted to know all the details. He listened and shared my excitement. He supposed that this meant he would become an uncle when we married. It was wonderful to know that this man would share the joy and excitement of my life.

I wanted to carry my baby niece down the aisle at my wedding. I thought she would be far better than a bouquet of flowers. My mom vetoed the idea.

Julie and I have spent all of her life on opposite coasts. We have never been able to spend great amounts of time together. When she was little I thought she was bright, beautiful and amazing. Now that she is grown with grown children of her own I know that she is bright, beautiful amazing.

Happy birthday Julie. Thank you for making me an aunt. I love you.