My Love Affair With Jake Tyler Gurrie

I can recall the 1st time I met him as though it happened only yesterday. It was on 28th of Feb, 2007 and it took place at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang. Jakey Boy, my latest nephew, firstborn to Michael & Clara Gurrie was making his way to the birth country of his mother, Malaysia, for the 1st time. The flight was scheduled to arrive at 5.30am local time and along with my trusted pooch Phoebe, I made my way to the airport, driving along the highway covered by the pre-dawn mist. It was dark and very few cars were on the road. It was too quiet and I was shivering from the cold as well as from the gloomy atmosphere. I switched on the radio and started singing along to my favourite channel, MixFM and Phoebe sensing that my mood is improving, started to sing along too... woof woof woof woof woof woof....

We arrived at the airport at about 6.15am and a quick call to my mother in-law confirmed that the plane had just landed but no signs of the passengers at the arrival gate as yet. Being an over excited aunt, I waited patiently in the car with Phoebe eating chocolates and drinking Nescafe Latte (to keep me awake). Phoebe had her favourite snack, beef rawhide and she chewed happily without a care.

At about 6.45am, my mother in-law called to say that the two of them together with the much awaited passengers are making their way towards the car. Plans were then made to meet up in front of the airport so that mom can jump in to my car, baby sit Phoebe for a little while in order for me to run to the ticketing counter. The reason for this was that I needed to collect my tickets to Melbourne, Australia. Mom will then travel with us to Lukut. This arrangement will also create some space for Clara & baby Jake, who were sitting in dad's back seat. The two cars will then make our way to Bandar Springhill, Lukut, the place where my in-laws purchased their recent house.

Once at the house, I could not hold back my happiness at meeting this adorable baby boy. I quickly ran to Clara, greeted her in a hurry as I could no longer contain my excitement to hold Jake in my arms. My God, this bundle of joy is a hefty one. In less than 20 minutes, my arms were aching and I had to let him down. A quick check with Clara revealed that Jake has already hit 7 kgs on the weighing scale even though he is only 9 months old. That's heavy my dear boy. What have u been eating? Kangaroo meat? Just kidding.................





It's no wonder why everyone falls in love easily with Jake. He's such a charmer (like his dad?). Jake seldom cries (unless he sees you holding his milk bottle and has no intention of giving it to him), he smiles a lot and laughs easily at the silliest action that I made.





Best of all, Jake is not afraid of animals. He was so captivated by Phoebe who was running around the house non-stop from the moment we arrived and even tried to crawl so fast as though he was trying to keep up to speed with her.






He flashed me the sweetest of smiles every now and then and his little cheeky grin really brightened up my day. So endearing, this sweet little nephew of mine.





I knew that I was hooked to this little baby magnet and silently in my heart I thanked God for giving my sister in law the wisdom to make my husband Jake's godfather. This means Jake will forever have a strong connection to us and I vowed to take care of him as best as I could whenever given the chance.





I will teach him to respect all of God's creatures, to appreciate nature and how to find joy in playing in the rain.








I will teach him to respect the elders as they are full of wisdom, to be humble as we are all equal no matter what rank we acquire in life, to find beauty by giving assistance to the needy by means of spending a day volunteering at an orphanage or a shelter rather than giving out huge donations without even knowing the actual recipients personally, to have a strong character and will power so that he can face any hurdle that comes his way and lastly to appreciate the uniqueness of being born in a family of mix parentage as he is truly blessed to have the best of two different cultures.





To Jake:
I wish you happiness and joy that life could offer,
I wish you love that is ever so tender,
A bundle of joy you bring us love,
A true blessing you are from up above.





Love, hugs and many kisses,
Aunt Ann.