My niece Michaela is four months older than Annabel. With the influence of her older brothers, Michaela has been walking, playing, and running much longer than Annie. And even though they’ve spent tons of time with each other, they haven’t really related to each other much – they’d mostly played around each other, each vying for the older boys’ attention.

Yesterday, it was different. At my sister-in-law’s house, the boys went off together…and the girls went off together.

 

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When the Easter egg hunt started in the backyard, Annie had no idea what to do. Luckily, Michaela did.

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When Michaela realized Annie didn’t have any eggs, she started to share:

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Once they were satisfied with their bounty, they went back into the house to count their treasures.

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They love each other.

hugging her cousin

It’s so wonderful that they have this relationship. My cousin is like my sister. And since Annie’s sister won’t be a physical presence in her life, I’m so happy she has Michaela. I hope their relationship continues to grow.