Gabriel Scott Leftwich

Gabe, Gabriel, Gabriel (Spanish); no matter how you say it, he's here and he's cute. Mama, accompanied by Chomba, rode up to Charlotte through a violent, hailing thunderstorm to make it in time to see her nephew come into this world while I stayed behind to take my first train ride with Papa the following day. Did I mention that my primito Gabriel was Mama's gift.... they both share the same birthday, May 27th. The train ride was an amazing surprise and trip for Papa and me to experience together.

After our early morning 2am arrival in Charlotte, I settled into the bottom bunk in Julian's room - making myself comfortable for an extended full filled Memorial weekend. I was awakened after only 6 hours of sleep by my overly excited primo Julian ready to play with me. It felt like Christmas, Easter....all those holidays that bring the Leftwich-Reina Family together for more than a 2 day weekend. I hadn't expected to see Grandmommy and Granddaddy; why didn't Mama and Papa tell me? Wow, I could hardly contain myself. But of course, I played the "shy" card for the first hour and then it was back to normal as I was cradled in Grandmommy's arms and greeted with kisses from Granddaddy. For those of you who don't know, G-mommy and G-daddy are my Tio Colby's Mama and Papa but since we are all family, they are also my G-mommy and G-daddy, not just Malaysha's, Julian's and Gabriel's. After an extensive and nap-inviting brunch, we fought off sleep to make our way to Presbyterian Hospital in Huntersville to see Titi and Gabriel.



Oh wow.......the overwhelming experience of seeing my tiny, baby cousin benumbed me and out of nowhere, I blurted out "Mama, I want a little sister. The reaction was more of a military "shock and awe" for my parents. Little does Mama know, Papa was teaching me that sentence on our 5 hour train ride and would make me say it over and over....somewhat like a brainwashing technique that was a bit traumatic for me but nothing like the traumatic repetitive Dora episodes that I torture my parents with. I was welcomed the following day with another surprise, Lolo and Tio Chico! After questioning Mama on the whereabouts of Lala, I accepted the fact that I would only get to enjoy time with half of the Belgium crew. Sometimes you gotta take what life gives you. Everything after that went pretty quick, Gabriel came home, Julian and I played, I held Gabriel, I kissed Gabriel, I played with Julian, I got rejected by Julian because his friend was over and I am a baby (according to Julian), etc. But no worries, as soon as the door closed behind Charlie as she headed off to the movies with her family, Julian was right back to "Emi, let's go play". I'll let it pass this time...