Our nephew Will is 15 years old and a freshman in high school. He is Emilia and Rex's oldest cousin, our first nephew. Will has always held a special place in our hearts and we have always tried to spend as much time as possible with him, sharing a variety of experiences.
Craig and I both are so amazed to see Will turn into a wonderful young man right before our eyes these days. Will's not a person of many words, but he is helpful, caring and has a great sense of humor that I think will only get better with age, like a fine wine (and yes, he would roll his eyes at me for making this analogy because I am his weird German aunt that sometimes uses fancy English).
I know Will's much younger cousins can be little pests to him (though he has much practice from younger sibs), but Will almost always tries to oblige their desires. When Emilia stretches her arms toward him to be picked up, he does it. When Rex needs a toy put back together, Will gives him a hand. But a few days ago when Will was at our house for a visit, his kindness toward Rex really blew me away.
Will was walking from the kitchen into the family room with a bowl of icecream. Rex spotted it immediately and approached Will. He led him to the couch, then pushed on his stomach to get him to sit down. And then he signed "spoon." As I was watching this scene unfold, I wondered what Will would do. Sharing a bowl and utensil with a slobbery three-year old can be pretty gross for anyone, let alone a teen, so I wouldn't have blamed Will if he had redirected Rex to the kitchen for his own serving of icecream. However, that's not what happened. Instead, Will shared his treat with his little cousin, bite after bite after bite until it was all gone. I cannot tell you how much it warmed my heart to see Will show such gentle consideration toward our Rex.
What a blessing to have a nephew like Will in our lives. We are so thankful to be able to share in his years of growing up and shower him with aunt and uncle love.
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