SO PROUD OF MY NIECE

I have so many women I can write about, like my mother, my grandmother and my sisters. They are all wonderful women who worked hard while raising families. I learned so much from each and every one of them. But I decided to write about my niece. She was always a leader from the time she learned to talk! She is my first niece, who was born when I was only 12 years old so I consider her more like a little sister. She took so many of my clothes from my closet when I was away at college she definitely qualifies as a little sister!

She is beautiful, smart, determined, caring, spunky, hard-working, and a great wife, mother and friend. She went to college for psychology near our hometown in Pennsylvania then she went off to college in New York City for her master's degree. Our hometown is small, there are about five traffic lights total and then she up and moved to New York City without a second thought! I was lucky if I could find my way to Pittsburgh, which is only about two hours away. She graduated, moved back home and then she took a break to get married and have a baby before landing her dream job. She works in law enforcement. Our country is lucky to have someone like her looking out for our safety.

Our family was lucky that she did live in our hometown for a few years before moving to a city in a different state over seven hours from home to start her new job. So we did get to spend some valuable time with her, her new husband and their new little girl. It was amazing having them live close by and our family had such fun times. I took my great-niece shopping every Saturday. It was also great that they got to spend time with my mother before she passed away. I’ll never forget the day they moved away...I was so sad...and they never moved back despite my annoying attempts to lure them back to at least Pittsburgh. After all, Pittsburgh is a big city with many opportunities.

Seriously, I don’t blame her for moving because she has the job she always wanted and she is very successful at it. However, most people have the help of family nearby when they have a full-time job and young children. My niece and her husband also welcomed a second baby, a boy. So scheduling got even more difficult and child care got even more expensive. Her job is very demanding and it requires her to travel, sometimes weeks at a time. Her husband also works so there have been times when they scrambled looking for a babysitter they could trust. My sister would travel to my niece‘s house when she could to help but she couldn’t stay for long periods of time. In addition to everything else, my niece is always involved in her community. She will do whatever is necessary to help out at her children's schools or with their extracurricular activities. She did make friends when she moved but she never had family nearby to help out.

My niece has lived away for almost 15 years now. She bought a house and really likes her new home so I doubt she will ever be coming back to Pennsylvania. Her little girl is now 17 years old and is looking at colleges. My family is now trying to lure her to Pennsylvania but it is not going so great. In fact, she won’t even consider the idea! Now who wouldn’t want to go to college at Penn State University in “Happy Valley”.💙 I guess her mother set a good example...make your own decisions. After all, it is her life. All I can say is that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. My great-niece is just like her mother. She is beautiful, smart, spunky, hard-working and she definitely has a mind of her own!

The bottom line is that I am very proud of my niece. She went after what she wanted and she achieved it. She has a job that she loves and she is doing great things to make this world a safer place. She also has a loving family and she is happy with her life. She always had the support of her family in Pennsylvania but she took chances that were not always easy. Not having your family close by to babysit or run errands is not easy but she never complained nor did she ever give up on her goals. She always was and still is an independent woman and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She set a great example for her daughter and now her daughter is on her way to achieving her own dreams. Unfortunately, it won’t be in small-town Pennsylvania!😢