When I was 15 (almost 16), a lady called my mother to say she’d been given Andrea’s name as a babysitter. For whatever reason, Andrea wasn’t able to do it, so my mother suggested me to the lady. She seemed hesitant, wanting someone older. She was willing to try me to see how it worked out, though. That was how I came to meet the lady I love as a second mother and the wonderful kid that is as much a brother to me as my biological ones. Nela Moore hired me as a babysitter for her son, Paul, and it was the most rewarding babysitting job I’d ever had. I was there Wednesday nights, sometimes a few extra nights if she needed me. I was a sophomore in high school so she had to pick me up and drive me home every night. It was about a 15-20 minute drive each way, but she never seemed to mind. Paul was 10 when I met him, and we got along so well. We watched movies and cooked macaroni and cheese and listened to pop music (this was during my *NSYNC days, and Paul loved them too!), and laughed like CRAZY. This is a special kid (you’ll always be a kid to me, Paul) and it was just such a special time.
My junior year, Nela flew me out to babysit Paul while she was in Los Angeles, and it was so amazing! Paul and I were confined to the hotel while Nela was working, but that didn’t bother us ONE BIT. This was a very famous hotel, I found out as we explored the entire place. The Westin Bonaventure is one of the most photographed buildings in the world, has been in countless movies and TV shows, and is referred to as a “city within a city”, which we CERTAINLY found to be true. There was a place here that had THE BEST smoothies, and I think Paul and I got at least two everyday. He always got peach, I got strawberry. We spent tons of our money on souvenirs, we rode the outward-facing glass elevators to the top to get pictures (Paul hated this, but he was a good sport), and we just had the time of our lives. When Nela wasn’t working, we got to explore the city a bit. We saw the Walk of Fame and put our hands and feet in the concrete of our favorite stars. We did a bus tour and went to Disneyland. We had SO MUCH FUN. And on top of all of that, Nela still paid me to babysit, the only thing about the whole trip that I paid for was souvenirs and smoothies.
When Nela would drive me home from babysitting, Paul was usually asleep in the backseat. She and I would have very deep conversations about all sorts of things: school, boys, teachers, friends, my hard times with my mother…she always listened and gave me great advice. I’ve always thought of her as a mom, she’s been unbelievably wonderful to me. When they moved to New Mexico not long after the LA trip, I was devastated. But when I graduated from high school, her gift to me was to fly me out for a whole week to spend with her and Paul, and it was so much fun! We ate lunch at High Noon, a restaurant on top of a mountain (I’m not joking, we had to ride an airlift thing to get up there). We drove to Tao and did some fabulous shopping, and we ended up deciding to stay at a nearby bed and breakfast on a whim. We had to stop and buy toiletries and other stuff, we hadn’t packed a thing. I stayed up all night reading books that were in my room, and I watched the sun rise over the mountains outside my window. In the valley right below, there were prairie dogs running around and popping in and out of hundreds of holes. There were probably 50 different animals running around, it was hilarious. Another amazing trip…
Paul and Nela are back in town, now, and I don’t get to see them as often as I like. Work and living on opposite sides of the city get in the way. They met Andrew on Paul’s 21st birthday last year (it amazes me that he’s in his 20’s now, I remember the cute 10-year old with the chili-bowl hair cut and huge, goofy grin) and they loved him. I was so incredibly happy that they were at my wedding, I sat them with family because they are 100% my family. Nela has been there when I needed her most, and Paul has been a friend and brother to me since the day I met him.
I love both of you so very, very much. I am beyond blessed to have you in my life, some of my best memories ever are with the two of you. THANK YOU!!
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