Hi Irene-

How are things going over there? I haven’t talked to you in awhile… I hope everyting’s okay at your end of the world!

Anyway, reading about you and your family sounds really nice; you seem to be very close to your siblings, and I’m sure you’re having a blast being an aunt for baby Ruben. Do you have to babysit him a lot? What is he like?

Though I myself am not an aunt (I have a brother named Garrett, who just turned 15 and is in no way ready to have any children!), I do come from a large family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. With my parents being one of four siblings on their respective sides, needless to say holiday gatherings are nothing short of fun and exciting. Having grown up with first and second cousins that are around my age, I have always been able to talk to them about anything without the fear of being laughed at (because sometimes I do talk about the randomest things).

However, with my immediate family- which consists of my mom, dad, younger brother, and myself- living out in the suburbs while the rest of my family lives in San Francisco, lately it’s been difficult for us to visit our relatives as frequently as we used to. And with this being my last year before I go off to college, I really have been making more of an effort to get closer to my family. A few months ago my aunt and uncle had a baby boy who they named Carter. He is adorable, and I have had the chance to babysit him a couple of times over the last month. While I am a huge fan of babies and really anything small and cute, I somehow forgot how much these little ones drool during the first few months. Nevertheless, I really should not complain- overall Carter is a very good baby, and I figure that I might as well start developing my maternal instincts, right?

I look forward to hearing back from you!