To Ella From Aunt Anna

Little Ella, God’s precious jewel

Your days with me as beads on a golden spool
Four years ago this day
A treasure came our way
A gift, lovely, undefiled
A little child.
An Aunt I am, and will always be;
That heavenly title I’ll wear proudly.Little Ella, little treasure

Abundant, without measure

Unique, one-of-a-kind you are, my Ell;

Far beyond any human to tell

The value of a soul, far above that of a fowl;

Handmade by God, encased within a mortal cowl

I was right by your side—to be anywhere else and I’d have died—

When you learned to crawl

(I was on my knees too; I never had any dignity to rue)

I helped to teach you to walk and not to fall

I was at hand as your biggest fan

When you climbed your first stair

At your 10,000,000th I was still there

Your first year, a joy untold;

Your second, yet more did unfold;

Your third…Oh, I’m too old!

Start your fourth year, my dear,

Knowing that you are not alone

For you at our door a light has always shone.

An Aunt I am, and will always be;

And you my niece eternally.