The proudest day of my life, up to the time I was 12 years old, was when my older sister had her first baby. She is 6 years older than I and when she had that baby, I thought he was my baby too. We spent many hours together, with us younger kids loving that baby boy, feeding and diapering him, playing with him, just like he was our doll. That’s where I got my favorite name for a baby, “my little doll.” My sister had 3 babies in 4 years, more babies for me to play with.
It was many years later before I had my own 2 children, but because I was an aunt, I was so sure I knew everything there was to know about raising babies, since I had been with my sister so much while she was raising hers.
Then my younger sister had her first son before I had any kids, then her twins just a few weeks before I had my own first child a son. Her twin boys and my son were so close in age, our mother dressed them in identical clothes and called them her “triplets.” We raised our kids around each other, so that they were more like brothers and sisters than cousins.
What joy it is to see our adult children at our family reunions, laughing and talking like the old days and to see our grandchildren playing with their little second cousins, like brothers and sisters.
Our family is close because of our mother. She always treated us alike, so there was no real jealousy between us. We were raised to share and share alike, to work together, to kiss and make up, to love each other, even if we might not always like each other.
One thing our mother always taught us besides loving each other, was that our family was a Christian family. Mother made a choice years ago that she would raise her children to serve the Lord.
“Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve, . . .As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 NKJV.