Last Thanksgiving, I went to visit my brother and his wife and their son, the cutest kid in all of creation, Jack. One night, after Jack had gone to bed, Tracey, Joe, and I were sitting in the living room watching TV. Tracey got up to get something from the kitchen and on her way back, noticing that every light in the house was on, said, “Good God, it’s like Fort Knox in here” while she walked around switching off lamps. Without even thinking about it, I blurted out, “Yes, that’s what kept the gold safe: lots of bright lighting.” My brother busted out laughing, and I realized that Tracey had become a real member of the family. It was a comment I would have said to Joe or Katie without hesitation, but that kind of sarcasm and unabashed abrasiveness was, up to that point, off limits when it came to my sister-in law.

Joe and I couldn’t stop laughing, and I think Tracey said something like, “Screw you two!” But even she knew it was kind of a turning point.

We found out that Tracey was pregnant right after my trip to see them that Thanksgiving, and she had the cutest kid in creation part deux last week, my niece Mackenzie (I wonder if that’s how they’re spelling it?), and so she’s really on my mind. Particularly because she gets really sick as a result of having babies and she just got home from her second trip to the hospital since Mac was born.

Tracey and I bonded instantly when she and Joe started dating, and we have become really amazing friends since they’ve been married. But for the past nine months, she has felt like my sister. As important, and, apparently, subject to ridicule, as any member of my immediate family. I’m so grateful that she’s a part of my life. And I can’t wait to see that baby!

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