On December 11, 2017, my cousin became a mother to a beautiful baby boy, Bowen Dean Durfey. That same day, I became an aunt and my life has forever changed.
If you’ve followed my writing, you know how and why Bowen is considered my nephew. And I’m so grateful to have both Bowen and my cousin, Emily, in my life.
I remember the night he was born. It was the week of finals and I had been at the hospital all day with the whole family, Emily had been in labor for 17 hours and eventually was taken in for a C-section.
She was scared, but she did it. She was brave and beautiful through it all.
Every time that I show someone the picture of her after giving birth, people are in shock. They comment on how beautiful she looks and say things like, “She definitely does not look like she just gave birth.” Yes, trust me, I know. I only hope that I’ll look half that put together after having a baby.
We didn’t get to meet Bowen until about 2am the next morning, after waiting for her to come out of recovery with him. I had a presentation to give at 8:30 am that morning, but I stayed (and thankfully, but barely, made it to class ;) )
I drove back to the hospital the next day, as soon as class was released, and I finally got to hold my darling nephew.
I visited Bowen every single day for a month after he was born. But soon enough the fairy tale was over, and I had to go back to school for the Spring Semester.
I haven’t been able to see Bowen as often as I would like, but I try my hardest to see him every other week at the very least. I was able to babysit him over Spring Break and also for a few weekends. Unfortunately, I’ve been sick a lot this year, and I recently came down with bronchitis, so I wasn’t able to see him this week. But trust me, I’m counting down the days to sunggle him again.
He grows so quickly and every time I see him it’s as if I’ve been gone for months. It’s hard to be in school, I feel like I miss out on a lot, but I hope that Bowen will always know how much I love him.
My cousin has done an incredible job raising Bowen and I could never be prouder. I know that when the time comes for me to have my own kids, I’ll have someone in my corner to help me out.
Bowen has changed all of our lives, but only in the best way. I miss the slumber parties that Emily and I used to have together, but we’ve expanded. We plan on having one here soon when Bowen’s dad leaves for a work trip and I’m going to stay with her a few nights.
I miss our time together, but I know that no matter what, we’ll still be like sisters. Bowen has made our lives a little brighter and every day is just a little better than the last.
I love you both, Emily and Bowen.
XOXO,
Michaela