Aunt misbehavin' is part of the job

Wherein we explain, and redirect you to this article of the title above, by Tish Durkin of Ms. O's eponymous magazine. Thanks cnn.com for posting and Tish for articulating.

(See Mom, it's not just me!)

Favorite quotes:

"If this is the strangest sensation that aunting provides, it is also the sweetest. For it reminds me that I have been privileged to see all these children up close as they came into the world, and all through their growing up in it. And yet I have never felt obliged to grow up myself."

"I am also relatively unworried about my own chances of becoming a parent, because although aunting will never give me anything like the full course of motherhood, it does give me a wonderful, powerful -- and possibly sufficient -- taste of it. While I will never be the children's mother, I will always be their family, with all the history, complexity, and fidelity that entails. I couldn't drop them like a yoga class, a book club, or a waning friendship, even if I wanted to. I have known them forever, and they have known me.

That's it, really: We just know each other and know, as one so rarely can these days, that we will always know each other."

I love you -- all my litle nieces and nephews in various far-flug places. Let's goof off again soon.
All my love,
Auntie Nettie