You know, I haven't really thought about what my little Kayla is going to call her aunt until I was home for Thanksgiving this past week. Kayla's mom and dad asked where the name Awa came from. Silly story really, but the name means more to me than I could ever explain.
You see, at the time it was given to me, the first sweet child that God had given to me was learning to talk. He heard his parents calling me Requelle. When he tried to say it and it came out Awa. Who knows. In his little mind, he was saying Requelle. Well, it stuck. They had another child and he called me Awa. Their extended family (whom I knew as well) all started calling me Awa, too. As we made mutal friends, and those friends had children, the name continued. I've even been told by said friends that they were pregnant by telling me I was going to be an Awa again. So far, God has given me 8 children who call me by that name... plus a few others who don't. But whenever I hear the name, I always think about the one who gave me that name. He's 17 now. Wow, I'm an old Awa :-) We've lost touch as seasons of life have changed but he'll always have a special place as he gave me the name.
Anyway, as Mom and I were working on Kayla's room at the grandparents house and discussing what the grandparents name would be, Mom asked me if I wanted Kayla to call me Awa. My first thought was, well, no. That was my name for friends. In my different worlds, I seem to have a different nicknames to each world. In my friend world, I'm Awa. In my work world, I'm Q. In my family world, I'm Quelle (except for my dad... he calls me R3... since I'm Requelle Rebecca Raley). Since Kayla is family... she should call me Aunt Quelle.
But then as I was telling a friend... the mother of two of my children... she had a great point. In some ways, I'm as close as any aunt in the lives of these children that God has given me. How cool would it be to actually have my neice call me Awa since the parents who have allowed me to be a part of their children's lives think Awa means aunt? The more I've thought about it... and I think about her alot these days since we're probably about 8 weeks away from her appearance in our lives... I've decided I want to be her Awa.
So my sweet little Kayla, your Awa can't wait to meet you.
