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Boy meets world

April E. Clark
Post Independent
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April in Glenwood
ALL |

I have a new friend named Kai.

There’s just one catch. He doesn’t exactly know me yet. Actually, he hasn’t even met me. This isn’t always how I meet friends – knowing them before they meet me. Sounds a little creepy, but it’s really not. That’s how it goes when two of my best friends get married and have a baby. Their baby is instantly grandfathered – or in my case grandmothered? – into a lifetime of friendship and free babysitting. For those who wonder, I’m actually quite good at watching kids.

It helps I’m kind of a big kid myself.



Kai is a week old today. He will soon know my name is April, or Aunt April, as my friend Megan’s boys have always called me. This theory throws off some family trees, but I didn’t have a sister so my best girlfriends have always filled that role. Hence making their offspring like my nephews. I will be an official blood-related aunt this fall.

Luckily I’ve had some practice over the years.



Kendra is like a sister to me. I can always call her when I need support. Someday Kai will hear all about the olden days when I first met his mom and dad. I met Kendra and Dane separately from each other. Dane was the drummer in a local band I covered for the paper. Kendra and I were colleagues at the paper. Then we were roommates. Then we were all roommates, like “Three’s Company,” but Dane didn’t have to fake his sexual orientation so he could live with two women.

Oh, the 1970s.

The summer Kendra and Dane became more than just friends, the attraction was undeniable. Those two were hot for each other, to say the least. We went to see Dane’s band a lot that summer. Some might even think us to be groupies. Our third amigo, Susan, was a big part of that magical summer. I remember one night during Mountain Fair, at an establishment no longer in Carbondale, Susan made a prediction that’s right up there with Nostradamus.

I haven’t asked her what she thinks about the Mayan thing yet.

That summer, Kendra was feeling like a middle-schooler with a crush on Dane. Those two were very cute. Kendra’s cheeks would flush pink every time he walked into a room. We may or may not have seen shooting stars and a magical unicorn prance down Main Street as they fell in love. When their eyes met, the heavens unfolded, and Susan proclaimed, in her clairvoyant sort of way, “Oh, he so wants to have your babies.” Fast-forward five years.

And Kai is born.

Oh, have we been waiting for him. Kai, all of us – me, and your mom, dad, grandparents, great-grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and your mom and dad’s friends – have been so excited for you to join us. Raising a baby really does take a village. And knowing there are so many good people out there to help must be assuring as new parents. That’s the beautiful part of a pregnancy. Everyone waits nine months to meet this beautiful new person and when he arrives, it’s love at first sight. Now that he is here, we are all so thankful. Kai has so much to see and do. He will learn so much from parents who have been in love since they met. He will laugh more than the average person because his parents are two of the funniest people I know. He will know be kind like his dad and generous like his mom. He will have impeccable manners, thanks to his mom’s Southern roots. And he will have great rhythm so maybe one day he plays the drums like his dad. Kai was born from true love, and a little help from a few friends who are now his.

Welcome to the world, Mr. Kai.

– April E. Clark is available for babysitting services. She can be reached at aprilelizabethclark@ yahoo.com.


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