A Year of Niephews!

So on our morning walk yesterday, I had this idea: “Hey, I have 12 nieces and nephews. There are 12 months in a year – I should feature a kid each month!” Emily was already featured in June, so I plan to highlight a belated niephew for July and feature another for August. There will be no particular meaning behind the order of presentation – it probably just depends on if there is something special happening in that niephew’s life or if I have particular story to tell.

So our belated July niephew is (drumroll)…Kaya!

On the morning of July 25, I had a phone call from my mom at 7:30 in the morning. I immediately knew it wasn’t good. Kaya, who is six, was going into surgery in a few minutes for an emergency appendectomy. I really couldn’t say much. It was just one more miniature disaster in this ridiculous summer. As I sat in my office, stunned, I thought of Miss Kaya…

She is one of the smartest kids I’ve ever met. She’s been reading encyclopedias since she was at least three. Ben likes to say, “Kaya has a plan to get us to Mars by 2010,” and she probably does. One week, she told me she planned to be a botanist; the next week, she was considering being an obstrictian, which, you know, is good…she’ll probably be finishing med school about the time Ben and I decide to bring that girl cousin she’s hoping for into the world.

She’s also a dog whisperer. Seriously. Kaya taught Sully the ASL sign for sit; he still responds to that sign better than anything he learned in dog obedience class. And after $300 and 12 weeks in those obedience classes, Sully will still not go “down” on command for us. He stiffens his front legs and fights us the whole way to the floor. This summer, Kaya walked into the room, looked at Sully, and said, “Down” – Sully went right down. And then I picked my jaw up off the floor.

She incredibly loquacious and unbelievably articulate. Here is one of my favorite stories about Kaya from this summer, and it seems fitting to let you hear her voice:

My cell phone rings

ME: Hello?
KAYA: Hello, Aunt Annie. How are you today?
ME: I’m good, Kaya. How are you?
KAYA: I’m fine. What are you doing this afternoon?
ME: Well, I think my afternoon is free. We just got back from lunch.
KAYA : Well, I was thinking this would be a good afternoon for you and I to go see the Kit Kitteridge: An American Girl movie.
ME: We could probably arrange that.
KAYA: Oh, good. And I was also thinking we could invite Emily since she has the Kit doll and I believe that she would enjoy that movie as well.
ME: Okay, Kaya that sounds good.

Fast forward to the movie. Kaya and I are joined by my sister Teresa and her kids Emily and Andrew. Now, I cried about ten times during the Kit Kitteridge movie. Yes, I’m a total sap. For those of you unfamiliar with Kit, her story takes place during the depression. As I watched the story, I was struck by the parallels between Kit’s world and the world around us today – the foreclosed houses, parents struggling to provide for their families in a failing economy, and the willingness of strangers to help those in need. Moreover, I thought of my grandparents who lived through this period, and wished desperately I could have watched this movie with my Grandma Pleiss. So it’s nearly the last scene, and Chris O’Donnell (adorable), who plays Kit’s father, finally comes home to his family after months of looking for work in Chicago. I am a mess. Kaya, who has been lying with her head in my lap, looks up at me. Now, imagine the loudest six year old voice possible at this tender moment in the movie:

KAYA: ARE YOU CRYING?
ME: (whispering) Yes, Kaya. I’m crying.
KAYA: (to EMILY) HEY, EMILY! ANNIE’S CRYING!
EMILY: (giggling, whispering breathlessly) My mom’s crying too!
KAYA: (patting me on the knee reassuringly) IT’S OKAY, ANNIE. I’M KIND OF CRYING TOO. (sitting up and grabbing the pink pom pom purse *her* Grandma Pleiss made for her and rummaging through it) DO YOU WANT A TISSUE? I KNOW I HAVE ONE IN HERE.

I love her. This is the same girl who, after 20 minutes of chattering away to me on the phone, said, “Whew! I hope this conversation doesn’t go on much longer! I’m going to have to go to bed by the time this is over!” I said, “Kaya, do you need to go?” “Yeah, probably.” I adore her.

Kaya’s surgery went well. We, by chance, were traveling to Omaha that night and were able to visit her in the hospital (on a floor that I’m growing all too familiar with). She was absolutely exhausted, but she managed the faintest of smiles for us when she saw the pink poodle Webkinz we brought her. Less than a month later, she is fully recovered and, I am told, is super excited, “Because in first grade, you get spelling and math tests EVERY WEEK!”