For me and my family, at least on the Maternal side of my family, we rarely see a girl child born into our ranks. At least among my generation and those generations that came after. When a tiny baby girl does arrive, it feels as if it is a super joyous occasion. To be truthful, we celebrate all new arrivals, but the little baby girls, those get special attention. Out of maybe 50 children born in a single generation, perhaps only 5 or 6 were girls. The girls are all very kind, nurturing, gentle and have a strong drive to be like the women of our past. (Like Granny) The rest of us (the boys) seemed to wreak havoc on the local flora and fauna and made sure our community knew what family we came from. We definitely gave our Granny a run for her sanity. But I digress. I share this brief story to introduce one baby girl, in particular, to you. To say the least, she means a great deal to me. One note of apology though, I have at least four girl cousins and one sister that may feel offended that I write about Boogie and not them. I suppose they have a right to feel this way. I may introduce you to them in future posts. Trust me, I love them as well.

So, with that said, let me tell you a little about Boogie. Yes, I said Boogie. That’s the nickname we gave her, she readily accepts it and answers to it, and it has become her name in conversations among our people.

Boogie was born waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2006. Her Mom and Dad welcomed her with great glee and happiness, into our family. She was, dare I say, BEAUTIFUL from the start. She was tiny, pretty, and all hues of new baby pink, as babies should be. She had beautiful eyes, the sweetest smile and softest and most gentle hands. I was immediately smitten, as was my entire family, with her. She became the focus of all conversations and gatherings for a very long time. To be honest, she still is. (Hint: Spoiled Rotten, that may be a Southern term.) She was perfect, well with one prominent exception. Boogie had an exceptionally large head. I mean, really big. Not just big, but Big Big. Our running joke now is that we had to prop her head up with chopsticks to keep her head from wobbling about due to its extremely large size. She thinks those jokes are funny, for a moment, but quickly pushes the conversation in any other direction as quickly as she can when the jokes happen. I have been fortunate to watch happily as Boogie has grown and matured over the years. She finally grew into that big head and no longer looks as if her head will tilt over to one side due to its’ extreme circumference. Life for her has been everything you might expect. We have survived a host of dance recitals, class presentations, swim parties, birthday celebrations, one quite hilarious Christmas “cocktail party” she and I hosted at my house when she was barely 6, and so many other life events. We’ve been there and done all that. In my humble opinion, this is exactly what a child needs to see and experience. True endearing love.

Her journey is not unlike that of many her age. She grew, excelled at her schooling, matured, and learned to “adult” to a certain degree. I’m very proud of her. She is now in college and she’s doing well. While she isn’t perfect, she does try very hard at everything she attempts. No one is perfect and she never attempts to make anyone believe she is. She is genuine and honest. With that said, she remains humble about her life and the privilege she enjoys. Some young ones don’t have the privilege of having so many people in their life to love and support them. She does and she understands how precious this is.

To go a little deeper, her strong will, bold and assertive personality, and her kindness are a few of her best characteristics. I’m a bit biased, but I believe she just might rule the world one day. Or at least a small part of it. In fact, she is practicing now. It’s funny, but even now she rules her household. She’s very maternal (but with respect) with her Mom and dad, and often seems to parent THEM. Looking in from my safe space, I find that quite humorous. I can’t wait to see where life takes her. Perhaps she might be a lawyer, she really loves to argue and uses lots of words, often. Much like me, her stories can go on and on for hours. Perhaps she might be an elected official or a business owner, no one really knows. Thats part of my pleasure I have in in continue to watch her mature. I’m excited to see where she goes in life. Whatever she chooses to do, I hope the biggest accomplishment she experiences is finding happiness.

Boogie calls me Doe Doe and I happily accept that. I love the relationship we have but sincerely wish I could roll the clocks back, just a bit, to a time when she was younger and less aware of life struggles. I want to protect her. Children grow and mature and grow in many directions. They migrate away from some and migrate towards others. (Key word here is BOYFRIENDS) I hope she will continue to be the wonderful person I know her to be. I hope she succeeds in her life ambitions and, In the future maybe her children (if she chooses to have them) will call me Doe Doe as well. I have happy thoughts about the possibility that this may happen one day. Please, though, let it be YEARS from now.

Reflecting on our past, I’m sure she and I will no longer have ice cream dates with her friends, we won’t travel (Like her first time flying First Class, Yall) to Washington, DC just so to see the Hope Diamond and the opening of the T-Rex exhibit at the Smithsonian, and I probably won’t sit in my old Dad’s den listening to her sing “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, for a school project, Over and Over and Over and Over and Over and over again…..but perhaps I can have similar experiences with her children one day. Mercy, that “happy” school practice night seemed to go on forever. In the grand scheme of things, That’s OK because I have my memories. We shared those moments, she and I.

To close, I’m Thankful she is a part of my life. Once in a while. Note: I texted you 2 days ago, and I’m STILL waiting Boogie!!!!! I am grateful that I had a small part in helping her grow, to learn to be strong and courageous, and I have enjoyed the opportunity to help her develop some of the life skills she will definitely need later on. Dad’s do this for their Daughters. She’s not my Daughter though, she’s my Boogie…