"MY" Niece...Muffy

I guess you are wondering what the title means. The pictures I have added here are pictures of MY niece. I wanted to make sure you understood the word MY, so I capitalized it. Possessive that way.
She is the oldest daughter of my youngest brother, Monte. I lost my brother in a motorcycle accident in 1993. Muffy, that's what she's called, I will explain that later. Anyway, she was not quite 16 years old when she lost her Dad.
I had only seen her a couple of times. Why you ask? It's not worth the time it takes to write it, so we will skip it. Several years ago, she and her sister, Mandy, decided to try and find me. With the help of their Aunt Marsha, they found Tim. They made the contact and I ended up with the nicest surprise one evening. I was face to face with two of the most beautiful young women I had ever seen. I didn't know who they were, I just knew they were gorgeous. It truly is an odd feeling, when your kids say "this is your surprise", and you don't know what they are talking about. Here stands two young women, a cute guy and two little boys, along with another older woman, that you feel you should know, but you don't! It has been a special gift getting to know them. I find myself wanting to know them more and more.

Muffy, here's where the name came from. I think I am right, and hopefully when she reads this she will correct me if I am wrong. Her eyes are like blueberry muffins, and her Daddy called her muffin, therefore...Muffy. Muffy has three of the cutest little boys. Axton, Aidyn and Alyjah. I could take that little Alyjah home and keep him, or as Danelle says...put him in my pocket.

We all had lunch together today. Alyjah asked me "Aunt Nancy, did you come to my birthday when I turned 5?". I said "no", he said "why not", and I said " because you didn't invite me to your party". He had a puzzled look and just simply said "oh". When he was done eating, he came and sat beside me and proceeded to tell me all about the Indiana Jones movies. He is a kick. Aidyn, talked mostly about Star Wars and all that goes with it. I have seen the movies, but I don't know a lot about the toys that go with it, so I couldn't carry on much of a conversation with him. I think he thought, since I had boys I should know this stuff. Axton is the oldest and such a polite young man. Please and thank you for everything I or someone else did for him. He and I had a conversation about sopapias (I know that's not spelled right), anyway, I shared with him about them and where they came from. I only know this because My Aunt Celinda told me. It was a great lunch and I enjoyed the time with the boys and of course their Mom.

I am so happy to have this chance to spend with Muffy, everyone needs a connection to their history and extended family. I was fortunate to have an aunt that told me about my extended family and it's exciting to share some of those stories with someone else who wants to know.

Muffy is married to Scott, I don't have a picture of him, but he is a handsome, nice guy. Muffy adores him so I guess he checked out okay. I think my brother would have approved of him, maybe not in the beginning, because what Dad wants to let go of his little girl. Muffy is smart, pretty, ornery, but very loving, a wonderful mother and a special niece. Gee, am I a lucky aunt or what?

My Oldest & Bestess Friend

This is Sharon, for those of you who don't know who she is.

I have known Sharon, it seems like most of my life. We were cousins by marriage, and now we are not. We are just besties

We grew up together as newly married ladies. We were pregnant at the same time, both times. Our oldest children were born six weeks apart, Tim was first, then Michelle. Then Todd was born eight weeks before Mark. We have shared many many things over these years. When the kids were little, and I mean little, we would get together at her house or mine and play games. We spent lots of hours together comparing notes on child rearing. When Mark was seven months old, (1971) we moved to Newton, it was hard to leave my friend behind. Not too long after that, they moved to Sioux City Iowa. One Thanksgiving, Gary and I and the boys went to Sioux City. We were all going to have Thanksgiving together. Interestingly enough, neither Sharon nor I had ever cooked a turkey. When we got it out of the wrapping, we both just stood there and laughed. It was most definitely naked. We cleaned the package of giblets out of the chest part. Only thing, when the turkey was done, we found the "other " package of giblets that was in the butt. It was a dinner to remember. From Sioux City they moved to Des Monies; then a suburb of Detroit; Piscatoway NJ; and finally Simsbury CT. John's job with the US Postal Service moved them around a lot. In the mid 1990's, Sharon came back home to Wichita. Her daughter lives in New Orleans, and her son in Chicago. She is the proud grandma of two beautiful kids, Lily and Luke. Through all of the moves, Sharon and I always remained close. When my boys were married she came from Simsbury both times. How many of you can say a friend traveled all those miles just to share in a family joy. Sharon's family lives here. Her brother and his family and her mom. She lost her dad to Alzheimer's a few years ago.

Sharon is the kindest most loving, giving person I know. I have said many times that without her friendship and strength I would not made it through my time of grief. She made her self available all the time, not just some of the time. I will always be grateful for her friendship and love. We have done some crazy things over these years. We have gone on trips together, been lost together, slipped and slid on ice, when we should have been at home. For most of the past ten years, we have set aside one night a week just to have dinner and talk. We can talk about anything without offending either of us. She gives me advice and I return the favor. We have grunted and groaned about everything you can think of. Nothing is off limits. It is so good to have someone you can talk to without it traveling to places it shouldn't go. She has always celebrated the successes of me, my kids, my grand kids, birthdays etc. And in return I have always done the same. When you're feeling low, you can count on a card in your mailbox, or a bouquet of flowers. I can't say enough about Sharon. She is my lifetime friend and I cannot imagine my life without her in it.