Everyone has people in their lives that they wouldn't trade for the world. People that love them unconditionally through good and bad things. People who see them for who they are and still treat them like a prized possession. My great Uncle Joe and my great Aunt Renee are those people.
For the entirety of my life, they have treated me like one of their grandchildren. For someone who has lost their biological grandfather, their biological grandmother, and their step-grandfather, this has been a saving grace for me.
I spent a lot of time growing up not truly understanding just how important I was to my great aunt and uncle. But now that I'm older I really do see and appreciate them for who they are.
My great aunt and uncle have always spoiled my younger sister and I like we were their own. They put up with us being actual brats for the vast majority of our childhood and were not afraid to be honest with us about our behavior. But they've always been honest with us about things. They take us shopping, they buy us dinners. They have let us have sleepovers at their house and force them into tea parties that I'm sure they didn't actually want to take part in.
But I have never cared about the material aspect of my relationship with them. Shopping trips and material things can be replaced. Memories can't be. What has always drawn me close to them is the unconditional love I have received. I grew up with the privilege of knowing two people who would have done anything for me.
I still have the privilege of having them around and I couldn't be any more thankful. I have been afraid of losing them for as long as I can remember. They worry me sometimes (I'm lookin' at you Uncle Joe) but I know that no matter where I am they will always be there for me.
I will admit, I got a little selfish when their actual grandchildren were born. (And I do occasionally get into a verbal altercation with my youngest cousin about his pappy being 'mine first' but that's irrelevant...) But they didn't treat me any differently after their actual grandchildren were born.
Being loved unconditionally by two people who really don't have to love you that much, or at all, is one of the best feelings in the world. It's a kind of love that makes you feel worth something. It's a kind of love I never knew I deserved. As a kid, I always added to my prayers a part especially for them.
So thank you, Aunt Renee and Uncle Joe. For being the bonus grandparents I never knew I needed or deserved. Thank you for looking out for me and celebrating my accomplishments. Thank you for being there to help pick up my pieces when I am broken. You are real-life angels in my life and I hope my children get to meet and be loved by you.
I love and appreciate you both so much more than you know.
