My how he has grown, how he has changed...

(the Whole Plaisance gang 5 years ago)

My niece, Rebecca, half of the parental duo of

Hugh, Lucy, Owen and Ellen,

is, about right now, landing in Paris.

It was her 40th bday on the 28th as well as her

(as cute now as he was then, back in the day)

 (One of our trips to a plantation home he spoke of yesterday)

 ( a fun night at the Hornets game with two of my favs.)

 Hubby, my BFOB's, birthday and their anniversary all

in one week. A few months ago BFOB asked her what she

wants for her birthday and she jokingly said, 

"Oh, a trip to Paris would be nice."

He surprised her with a week trip to that very place.

Finding a safe, loving place for their four children was 

her biggest worry of leaving them behind.

I have Hugh, the oldest, until Saturday and then

will have Owen the third in the group from Saturday to Tuesday

when I bring him  home to reunite withtheir family.

This blog, is of course, about that Hughbee boy!

He is now 15, 15!!!! for a child who came into the world

3 months early weighing just under two pounds, he 

has come a long, long way. When I say a long way,

he is 6 foot two inches tall! I definitely look up to him 

these days as does most in our family.

So many wonderful things to say about this child.

First, how many 15 year olds, not only loves coming 

to spend time with his auntie lil, but is excited about it.

He and I,  when he was 5 began summer sleep overs with me

and except for I think two summers, we have carried it out.

On our way home, we reminisce of all the summer vacations we

shared, he remembers all the little stories,

the one when he was 7 and we buried a dead cat we found.

As we were leaving the burial site he turns to me as I 

am leaving and says with so much emotion,

"Aunt lil! WE have to pray!"

He remembers all the trips he and I made to tour 

old plantation homes as that is the thing we always enjoyed doing.

He remembers the Myrtle's trip where he lost his 20 dollar bill

and the only way I could calm him down about it was

by making up a ghost story about why the 20 dollar

bill was lost, because the ghost children had taken it from

his pocket. He was so sure this was true that he said,

"Yes, Aunt Lil, that's what happened, I remember feeling a

cold breeze across my feet when we were in the gift shop"

Geezer, I love this child!

Now he is a teenager, a wonderful, lovable, teenager.

Who is easy to please, who compliments over and over the

fricasse' I cooked for him because it's what he wanted.

I forgot how enjoyable being praised for a meal is.

We sat on the sofa, near each other, each with an ipad, playing 

words with friends. He is one of a different character.

He speaks of his younger siblings out of pride.

I share with him about his brother Owen's text to me

to let me know that he likes "Steak and broccoli"

We both laugh at this and he adds a few more antics 

about his little brother. I am so, so blessed that at my age,

I have all these great nieces and nephews who not only will

stay with me, but look forward to the visits.

Our family, our extended family, we are all so very lucky

to have the type of love that binds us together no matter how big 

we get. He is a miracle of a child, he is going places,

and I am thrilled that in his life, when he looks back on his

 childhood, there will be plenty memories and stories of the summers

with his Auntie Lil.

(My Hughbee, so grown up)