My Nieces

My Nieces 

I have 7 sisters and 2 brothers and between them they have 11 daughters. I am 5 years older from my oldest niece and 38 years older from my youngest one. The age range therefore is from middle 50s to early 20s. 

I have been around when some of them were born, I have seen some of them grow up, I have been present at one of their birth’s.  Like most families these days we are scattered across continents and countries. Some of my nieces live close and some are far away and our relationships are the same way, some are close and some are distant. 

Having a large family has many joys, both when you are a child and when you are an adult and one of the joys is having nieces and nephews.  You love them because they are an extension of your brother or sister whom you love. You also love them because they all start from babyhood and babies are adorable. Being part of a large family teaches you how to love that’s why all my brothers and sisters have been loving parents and now loving grandparents. 

I chose to write only about my nieces because my relationships with my sisters are unique and special. I am the youngest girl in my family so most of my life I have been their little sister. I became an adult in their eyes, I think after I was thirty years old.  Being the youngest aunt to my nieces had the advantage that some of them felt closer to me than to their other aunts and I enjoyed that privilege greatly. 

I love all my sisters equally but for different reasons because they are all different individuals with different qualities. I admire all of them for their humane nature, their compassion, their empathy and for their achievements. 

I may have loved my nieces when they were babies because they were beautiful and cute. As they grew up and found their way in life I loved them for their choices, their open mind and their accomplishments 

In my opinion my greatest weakness is my honesty and directness, and with the risk of self injury I will admit publicly that I feel deeply hurt when one of my nieces deceives me, or betrays me or worst of all comes between me and my sister.  

I take solace in the thought that at least some of my sisters still love and value me just like when I was their little sister.