introducing.

I have this incredible little niece. I've spoken only once of her before on this blog, and she was really only alluded to. I've been putting off writing about her because I had all this pressure on myself to do her justice through my words, as if this introduction would be the one and only way I'd be able to speak of her. So I figured it's best to just put it out there - let it be known that she exists and is quite simply the little light of my life. I don't quite remember what my family did before she came. Although somehow we survived 32 years without her, these last 5 months have been so incredibly meaningful for all of us that her existence seems to have always been permanent.

She spent the last week here in my home in Brooklyn. I rushed home each day from work to be with her...my feet moving faster than they ever have to trek through the snow and the slush and hurry up to my 3rd floor apartment where I'd swing the door open to be greeted with her little teeny tiny smile that lifts her cheeks and scrunches her eyes. She is, to put it bluntly, marvelous. With her, each care and worry dissipates and meaning is restored. Her small little hand circles around my index finger and my heart melts just a little. I'm certain everyone feels this way about their own niece/nephew/child/grandchild, what have you, but when it's yours you think no one else understands the feeling. You think no one else knows how much your heart explodes with love for this new gift.

Each moment is cherished.