auntie loves her

i am, perhaps to the point of needing institutionalizing, psychotically attached to my niece amaya. every time i see her we go through the same little episode. i take one look at her and say “come to auntie right now,” then go completely bonkers and say repeatedly that she is the most perfect angel from heaven and that auntie loves her so much while resisting the urge to squeeze the guts out of her. she replies back,” i love you auntie tina.” it’s enough to make me want to throw myself in front of a bus. on top of that, she is at the perfect age where she just repeats everything i say. i taught her how to raise her glass and say “salut.” we overcame her original endorsement of ron paul and she now favors obama. i am most proud of taking her to kohl’s to introduce her to the affordable vera wang line at the age of 2. she needed to learn that “vera is classy.” she has wild curly hair, loves christmas carols, and engages my 18 year old brother in the most hilarious arguments. i can’t imagine loving a little person more than i love amaya. and from the pictures, surely you can see why.