She Loves Him So

About a month ago we went to visit family and I keep thinking about this one thing: how much our niece Eden adores her cousin Elijah. It makes me melt.

This is Eden

I'm always so thrilled to see Eden, so I'll start waving and saying her name when she's in sight. She looks past me to her cousin and says his name instead. I do believe his name was probably one of her first words.  "Jijah!" she exclaims. "Jijah!" whenever she sees her beloved cousin.

Oh, she loves him so.

One morning, Grandma was feeding Elijah when Eden crawled into her lap to be part of the action. Grandma did as is often the case in feeding Elijah - a mixture of scooping and wiping and repeating. Eden was watching and soon there was a lull in activity.

So Eden picked up the wash cloth and wiped Elijah's face.  And then wiped her own.

Oh, she loves him so. 


This little moment keeps playing over and over again in my mind. It was just so sweet, so tender.

Big E and Little E playing together on Thanksgiving

Even though Elijah practically runs her over whenever he passes her by, doesn't really share his toys, has tried to step on her, and for the most part ignores her - she loves him. Adores him, in fact. She's more excited to see him than anyone else it seems.

This is Henry

This is something that thrills me - the prospect of built-in friends in his cousins (and hopefully future siblings, but that's a subject for another day). He's blessed to have two (three) amazing cousins - Henry who's almost two, Eden who's one and a half, and one little girl on the way.  These little people are Elijah's future.  The peers who will know him the most, who will hopefully look out for him, and accept him for who he is.  I know it won't always be perfect.  I'm dreading the time when little Eden will start noticing that Elijah is different. I know the adoration will fade some.

I can only hope that the little girl who would be willing to wipe Elijah's mouth will always be willing to look out for him. I believe she will, along with Henry, along with the little girl to come, along with the children who are only hopes in our hearts. I believe they all will. I really, really do.

E and H playing together on Thanksgiving

Thanks for raising some really amazing and compassionate kiddos, my sibs. It means more to me than I can express. Truly.

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