Today I’m feeling grateful for my friend Shannon and the gift she gave me by making me an Aunt to her daughter Mckenna.

I don’t define family using simple biology. My family are those who have loved me and who I have loved with that intangible, unexplainable, and unconditional kind of love. I have many people I call family – including two of my closest friends who became family when I met them both on the same day in 1993.

One of those friends, Shannon, and I have been consistent friends since that first day we met (gasp! Twenty-two years ago. Unbelievable…). And when she had her baby girl on March 7th, 2010, she gave me the gift of being an Auntie.

Shannon- exhausted, hungry, and deliriously happy on that evening when she became a Mother for the first time- showed me little Mckenna and told Mckenna to “meet her Aunt Nina”. I have seen Mckenna as my full-fledged niece from that moment I met her on the night she was born.

From the moment I met Mckenna, I have loved being an Aunt. I define myself as being an Aunt. When people at work or in other situations want to know how I describe myself, I usually always start with saying that my greatest role is being an Aunt.

Mckenna was my very first niece/nephew. She has taught me more than anyone on how to be an Aunt. From Mckenna I have learned that Aunts can be slightlier goofier than Moms. Aunts can be silly and be a buddy while still offering safety and responsibility. Aunts usually learn after the niece or nephew and parents about what cartoon characters are hits and what ones should be avoided.

Aunts don’t always know instinctually what foods or movies might be appropriate (I pushed “Milo and Otis” on her before she was perhaps old enough to understand). And Aunts have open arms- whenever and however is needed. An Aunt may not be the friend the little one plays with when other kids are around- but they are the ones that they play with at the end of the day before their parents put them to bed.

By now, at the age of 5, Mckenna seems to know we can “girl talk” – both with the serious and with the silly. I can help teach her things and allow her to experience things in my world.

An Aunt has the priviledge of watching a tiny little infant grow into a beautiful, curious, and smart little child. I plan on watching Mckenna grow into an independent and happy young woman.

Aunthood is not something I take lightly and it’s certainly not something  I take for granted. So today and everyday, I’m grateful to be an Aunt.