Today, November 13th, is my niece Mariah's 9th birthday. Happy Birthday Little Kid!

I absolutely love having a niece. And Mariah is adorable.

Truth-be-told, there was much drama prior to her birth nine years ago, as my sister was still at home and still in high school and only 17 at the time. My family obviously worried about how things would turn out. And we're all very happy that things have worked out fine. My sister's had some struggles being a young mom, but she's got it goin' on and worked through the rough spots.

My niece Mariah is a handful, but a fun, lovable, sweet handful. She's strong-willed and sassy like her mama and she's gonna make a terrific strong woman one day. I can't believe it's been 9 whole years. All the memories of the birth and pregnancy seem so distant and vague and yet, I can't believe the "little kid" is becoming such a big girl.

Happily, I'm going down to Burbank to see her this weekend for the big birthday bash and we're gonna have lots of fun. I love being an uncle. It makes me feel connected to family even more. And that's something wonderful.