“You have a new nephew!”
I’d been waiting to hear those words for the past week or so, and I finally heard them today when my mother called to tell me that the newest addition to our family had arrived this morning. A little boy. My parents’ 11th grandchild.
As I sat and thought about this brand-new baby (and wished I could see him!), I realized something: this child is the first one in the family that will know George only as “Uncle.”
No “Mr. George” for this child.
Unlike his siblings and cousins, this little boy will never remember a time when George wasn’t his uncle. A time when Aunt Treasa lived with Grandma and Grandpa. A time before Uncle George and Aunt Treasa went together like cheese and crackers.
His siblings and cousins, on the other hand, will have to get used to the name “Uncle George.” They’ll have to adjust to the fact that Aunt Treasa won’t be living in Grandma and Grandpa’s house anymore. And they’ve already had to learn to accept George as a new member of the family.
But this new bundle of joy, about whose birth George was just as excited as any uncle could be, this little miracle will grow up always knowing his Uncle George.
And that’s kind of amazing.
Welcome to the family, little one! We can’t wait to meet you!
That’s true, and I was thinking that today. But then I was thinking that M has almost always known Mr. George as a member of the family. And when he saw a photo of the two of you last week, and I said, “Who’s that?”, he said, “Mista George.” And that was all he said. You may not be happy to hear that.
It’s amazing to me how quickly L–not typically an enthusiast when it comes to change–accepted George as part of the family. But he is. We’ll have to make the transition to unclehood, but it will be fun. We can’t wait for Uncle George to be an official member of the family! P.S. M is now frightened of your Pez. Please take them with you when you go….
I thought of M, too. It’s true that George became a member of the family only shortly after he did. And we all know that George is his favorite relative. It’s ok.
I find it rather sweet. Your boys both accepted George so quickly. I was a little nervous about how that would all go… but that’s a topic for another blog post. P.S. Is he frightened of all my Pez or just the large stuffed ones? If it’s all the Pez, I think it might be easier to move the crib rather than the Pez…
He’s frightened of “the men.” I thought he meant your Greek busts on the top shelf, so I took them out, which made him happy, but he was still upset about the Pez. I think I’ll just make sure the room is darker next time. He’s just going to have to deal with it, I’m afraid. We can’t take the Pez out of the Pez room.