My, How Time Flies

Back in August of 1987, my sister Lisa and her husband Dan brought home their first child, a 5 pound lump of baby boy that they named Joseph Daniel.  This morning, I watched my nephew Joseph Daniel Witterstaetter receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Electronic Media from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.  I couldn't have been prouder if he had been my own son.  This is Joey with his beautiful girlfriend Allison.

This is Joey smooching his beautiful girlfriend Allison.

This is Joey and his brother Tommy.  Tommy graduated from Oak Hills High School last week and will be a freshman (on scholarship, woohoo!) at The College of Mount St. Joseph in the Fall.

And these are the proud parents, my sister Lisa and brother-in-law Dan.

It always makes my heart so happy when my nieces and nephews ask me to be a part of the important occasions in their lives.  I go to soccer games, baseball games, school plays, watch Claire cheer for the football team, and I almost went to Claire's dance recital, but I gave my ticket to another niece who was visiting from out of town.  The oldest of the 9 nieces and nephews is Jeffrey.  He's 38.  The oldest niece is his sister Amanda.  She turned 35 just yesterday.  They're the children of my deceased sister Judy and brother-in-law Bob.  Bob was in the military.  He made a career of the Air Force.  They lived all over the country, so I hardly got to do anything with Jeff and Amy when they were younger, but they knew--and still know--how much I love them.  Boone is out of school now and working.  Stacey (Jeff's wife who I think of as a "real" niece) has her own business.  Claire (age 8), Brandon (age 10), and Brandon's sister Meredith (age 7) are growing older and taller by the minute.  There are still many more events to go to.

 Still a lot of time to fly.......