I won’t embarrass her with pictures here, but today is my niece Regina’s 20th birthday.
Yikes.
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The one memory I’ll share here is one day when she was maybe a year old, and my sister’s family had come by to visit.
I had set up the old Avalon Hill War at Sea game, and Regina sat on my lap as I played a turn. The British and German navies were attacking each other, and as I rolled the dice, Regina would say, “uh oh” whenever I rolled a ‘5’ (ship damaged/crippled) and exclaimed “oh no!” whenever I rolled a ‘6’ (ship destroyed/sunk).
I hadn’t even explained the rules to her.
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In 1999 (I think), my sister called me shortly after the beginning of the Daytona 500.
Maria: What did you teach her?
Me: What do you mean?
Maria: We were watching the start of the race, they waved the green flag, and Regina said, “Go!”
Me (laughing): I didn’t do it.
Regina has always been a smart kid.
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Last one:
In 1999, I was babysitting at their place, and Regina was sleeping on the couch. I left her alone until she woke up, sat up, and vomited all over her onesie.
Eeeek.
I quickly scooped her up and removed the puked-on garment, found another one, changed her diaper since she had also peed, and dressed her in the other onesie.
I then held onto her until she fell asleep again, and then her parents came home.
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Happy Birthday, Regina!