Happy Birthday Chelsea

For someone who just turned 12 yesterday, my niece Chelsea has had quite a lot of adventures and experiences in her short life.

There are so many adjectives to describe her that I think some haven't even been found or invented yet. Compassionate, considerate, thoughtful, smart, sentimental, silly, beautiful, soulful, dignified, lovely, delightful, etc., etc., etc..

When she was 13 months old her parents went away overnight and left her with me. Veronica, who was then 6, was also staying with me and we had the most fun spending time with Chels. Right before her father was to pick her up, Veronica and I decided to put a couple of teddy bear tattoos on Chelsea's butt while changing her diaper. A couple of hours after Michael left with her, my phone rang and it was my brother who accused me of "corrupting his daughter". That really started our fun together.

As a 3 year old, she was the first to skinny-dip in my little inflatable pool. She was also the first (and only) to touch my hot wood stove with her little hand, thankfully with no lasting scars.

Her brain is a lot like mine (which might not be so good) because it never stops thinking. In her kindergarten class they learned about fire safety and smoke detectors. For some time she became a bit obsessive worrying about fire. She had us worried because it seemed to be on her mind more than it should. I explained to her that they taught that info to keep families safe, but she continued to worry. Finally, one day I held her cute little head in my hands, and told her that it was my job to help people stay safe and that I was taking all of those thoughts from her head and putting them into my head, that I would be the one to worry for her. It seemed to help her a great deal. Shortly after that she and I, along with Veronica went to Lil's cottage in Maine. At that time there was an old gas stove that had to be lit by a match once the gas had been turned on. I had taught Veronica how to do it, and one day while Chelsea was eating her breakfast at the table, Veronica turned the gas on earlier than she should have before lighting the match. Once she lit it, the flame shot up several inches. Chelsea was out the door in a blur, which cracked us up then and we still laugh about today. So she may have some issues with fire, which I think should keep her safe.

About the same time we also had to spray her room with Monster Spray to keep away the monsters that only she saw! Little did she know we used lemon spray, which made her room smell nice and clean. All that mattered to her is that the monsters stayed away.

She started dancing at 3 years old and is now a lovely dancer. To watch her each year at her recital and seeing her improve and her confidence grow makes me proud of her. She and her company have traveled from Las Vegas to New York City for competitions and have won many 1st place honors. I assume the other girls do a fine job, but this Auntie only has eyes for one dancer up on the stage.

She graduated from 6th grade this year and is headed to middle school in just a couple of weeks. I went to the same elementary school that she did (1961-1967). This year at the graduation ceremony she received many awards. At the end of the program the Principal announced that they had one more award to present. It was a Presidential Award, given to the best and brightest students and I'll give you one guess as to who it was awarded to. I believe she is the only one at that school who has ever received this award. In my opinion, it was the one smart thing that our current president has done in the past 6 years.

She's been to Disney World a few times, on a Disney Cruise, Niagara Falls and to Jamaica. She enjoys those trips and looks forward to another trip to Jamaica in the spring.

Needless to say, the time since her birth 12 years and 1 day ago has gone much too quickly. She got braces last week. Junior High in two weeks. Sooner or later (I hope, much later) boyfriends. Then high school, driving and college. She's already begun to be too busy to spend much time with Auntie, though this past weekend we were together while camping.

She never fails to amaze me with who she is. I am in awe of all that she has accomplished and look forward to watching where she is headed, wishing her love. I hope she knows this Auntie is very proud and loves her very much.