This brought tears to my eyes. We are in the same place, for sure. Same struggles. Same questions. Same joys.

I spent all weekend on the phone with my nieces and nephews. My brother’s son kept hugging and kissing the phone and saying how much he missed me and missed having “Auntie Time.” My sister’s youngest (who is 2 and so, so dear to me) showed me all his dinosaurs on Saturday and then when I sent him some videos of me reading to him, my sister videoed him watching and he kept screaming and waving, “Hi, Auntie, hi, Auntie!”

There are 8 of them, in total, and I would never have time to be so close with them if I had kids of my own. And I don’t know that I want to jeopardize that. But like you, I sometimes wonder if I’ll be okay with not becoming a mom. And how can we answer that truthfully in light of the cultural conditioning that is foisted on us?

But I just take it in little moments. I’m hoping life will show me the way and that whatever happens, I will be at peace with it. It’s a great comfort to know how much the nieces and nephews love me because I know, at least in that, I have left a mark and made a difference in children’s lives — the children I love the very most in this world. ❤