7 Comments

Ok so. I’m a guy without kids. With all the mail I get, I’m not sure how I came to read this. But I did, and I find it to be exquisite.

Directly I cannot relate any of my personal life experiences to the story. Nevertheless I feel deeply connected to the author. That’s amazing, impressive, fantastic, pick your accolade.

So glad I stumbled here. Thank you!

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I love this so much. I also have tried to be a good aunt to my nieces (and nephews). It's fun to try to be the "cool aunt." Perspective does change once we have kids of our own. Still, I had/have a great relationship with my aunts and I hope my nieces and nephews think the same of me.

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Oct 23Liked by Katy Whitehead

Captivating! My niece was born this year so your words truly resonated with me.

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Oct 20Liked by Katy Whitehead

Lovely! A relationship we don’t see portrayed very often, but one that is so important to so many girls (and aunts, as it turns out! But I’ve only been on the one side).

Ps. I intended to just start this essay and return once I’d gotten out of bed and started my morning. But once I started, i couldn’t stop.

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what a nice reflection of a woman's emotions - motherhood - fatherhood - aunthood... watching someone move further away from a loved one and further away from their loved self. i sense purpose being lost. what about laney's mother? she seems to be lost in the world of single motherhood/sisterhood?

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Oct 18Liked by Katy Whitehead

Katy, your writing reminds me of that of Maggie Nelson, one of my favorites. (I’m currently re-reading The Argonauts.) Edelman’s book No Future is really radical, and I love how you tease out his idea through this examination of your relationship with your niece. Thank you for writing and for sharing! PS. You might also like Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse.

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author

Finite and Infinite Games sounds fascinating! I had never heard those terms before but the distinction sounds really interesting. Thanks for the tip, and for reading. I also really love The Argonauts.

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