That Which Was Lost

I'm celebrating two things this week.

First, that I'll be able to babysit my little niece Butterfly (that's her in my Flickr badge) for the first time in two months. Now that her big brother Mooka has returned to school they're on a new schedule that sadly doesn't coincide w/my working schedule. I took a few days off from work and her mom agreed that I could keep her for those few days.

The second and possibly the greatest is that my niece Nicole contacted us on Monday, ending an eight year estrangement. Eight years! The last time we had spoken to or seen she and her siblings was at my father's (her grandfather's) funeral. Because of her mother, and as can happen upon the death of the family patriarch, the familial ties, already in a weakened state, finally yields and dissolves. So it was and still is with her mother, my half-sister.

Growing up, my half-sister and I were NEVER close. As adults we didn't see much of each other and most of the meetings were very civil, stranger-politeness events. Her children and I though, adored each other and loved each other.

The only tie that kept us together was our father and when he died, she never called, wouldn't return our calls and we accepted it. We did miss the children though and now here she is calling us! We're already making plans to go see her and her family in Atlanta.

Unfortunately she's also estranged from her mother and siblings who remain in Oklahoma. She said she and her husband were talking about family and a funny story involving us came up and a pain of loneliness hit her and wouldn't let go so she looked us up, called the number and here we are. We've spoken to each other for three days straight. She knows about my Flickr badge and she's emailed pictures of her six year old son and year-old daughter.

So I'm officially smiling because that relationship which was lost is now found. I refuse to allow another eight years separate me from my family. Life's too short.

Lucky for me, I found this great badge over at Jeni's who's awarded more Blogger awards than anyone I know. No other picture is more right for this post. Thank you, Jeni.