[There You'll Be]

Mandie, that's awesome. Are you going to be part of the wedding party?

Sunny, yay that you got to spend time with him. Kids are exhausting, especially when you aren't used to them.

[sunnykerr]

I honestly don't know how my brother and sister-in-law deal with my nephew on an everyday basis. I kinda suspect the combination of being at work during the day and of being around him a heck of a lot more than I am have something to do with it.

I really should have taken a nap when he did.

[There You'll Be]

Nap coordinating seems crucial.

That much I remember from babysitting.

Breaks are also necessary.

[sunnykerr]

I never did babysit when I was younger. No kids lived close enough.

It's all good, though. I'm determined that my nephew will know who I am.

[There You'll Be]

You seem like a great example of an aunt, even though I may be bias from only hearing your side of it.

The fact that you're going to be certain about that, makes everything better for him.

[sunnykerr]

I'm trying really hard not to invest too much in it or to put too much pressure on him. It's not his fault that I've got a lot vested on him knowing me and loving me.

You know how it is when someone tries too hard. It tends to backfire on them. And I don't want that. So, you know, I'm gonna be present. I'm going to have his back in all things. But the rest will be up to him.

[There You'll Be]

That makes great sense.

Sounds to me like you have his best interests in heart, and that is what will always keep him close to you, if you ask me.

[sunnykerr]

Thanks.

I'm glad I'm at least able to communicate my intentions here. We'll see what happens.

[There You'll Be]

You're right, time will tell. I have faith in you.

Still talking to my cousin every day on messenger. We talk way more than I talk to anyone in this house now.

The cool thing is, I get to learn a lot of different family stories, and so does she. We're over a decade apart, and have only met twice. Once when I was about 15, and once a few years ago. It's really nice having that connection, and learning more about our family.

[sunnykerr]

I love that your cousin and you have that shared communication like that.

I live alone, so it's not hard for me to believe that you talk more to her than you would talk to anyone otherwise.

My brother's selling his condo and one of our cousins who is a real estate agent is helping him and the other cousin who does home staging as a hobby is supposed to go over there to give him some pointers. I kinda love that.

My brother has also said that, if he gets the house they like, then he'd like to host the family parties at his house. That would be so awesome.

[There You'll Be]

Oh that will be awesome. A whole new family tradition space. It will be quite a bit closer to you, too, right?

That's also great family is helping him to prepare, and to get done what he needs.

[sunnykerr]

Well, no. Immediately, it's going ot be substantially farther from me, actually. He's moving to the south shore, and not the part I can access easily through public transportation either.

But, when I also move to the south shore, it won't be quite so much farther. You can't exactly beat how close we are to each other right now. I mean, we're not that close, but it's a 20-minute metro ride, more or less.

I grew up being told that we were all a close family and that the proof was in how often we'd see each other, despite us living so far from the main core of my family, which has always been in and around Montreal. But it's only really in recent years that I've actually started to feel like maybe we are close.

[There You'll Be]

That has to be a great realization, and assurance, that you truly are a close family. I've always believed that about your family. You're very lucky.

It will definitely take more effort to see him, in that case. It must be a bit sad for you to know it will be harder.

I didn't know you were considering/planning to move to the South shore. Will it be in the nearer future, or in a distance plan?

[sunnykerr]

I'm not moving to the South shore any time soon. I have a lease until July 1st of next year that could be extended another year and so on.

But it is a long-term plan of mine. Not sure when it will happen per se, but with my brother moving there and my new landlords' criminal rent hike this year, I will be moving at some point. Even if it wasn't to get closer to my brother and nephew, then it would be because I could no longer afford to live where I am.

So it's not a fully formed plan right now.

[There You'll Be]

Things like that don't need to be at all fully formed, until they do. I am sure that you already have some ideas and plans in your head, and you'll take action when the time comes.

What is the South Shore like?