Impending Niece Visit

Two weeks and one day until my niece Arzaana-fay visits from KC. Technically, she’s my niece-in-law. And technically, the visitor will be the 16-year old version of Arzaana-fay. Based on recent phone calls I may not recognize her.

Arzaana-fay last January looked like this:

She was at the grandparent’s, so she swapped the nose ring for the stud, but she was wearing both the Bettie Page necklace and the Ahnk (symbol to the in-laws that Arzaana-fay now must be following an Egyptian pagan religion).

Oh, and the shirt? Black. Lipstick? Black. Pants? Black. Underwear? Black. I know, because since because I am the accepting aunt who hears all the dark secrets, I am also the aunt who will buy her the dark clothes she likes.

So on this phone call, I asked “Are we going shopping? Do you have enough clothes now that you lost 30 pounds?”
“Ohhhh…you haven’t seen me since January, have you?” she asked.
“Oh no – you’re anorexic now?” (Because this would be the next dark secret. I have studied up in anticipation for it.)
“No. I wear colors now! And my fingernails are grown out and they’re pink. And I’m growing out my black hair and going back to my natural color.” (I thought back and remembered the natural color was brown when she was 13.)
“Who are you? What have you done with Arzaana-fay?” I panicked.
She laughed, “I just think maybe I was going through a bad phase and I didn’t feel good about myself.”
I am a cool aunt, so I didn’t say “You THINK?” which seems to be the universal response when I quote this interchange to others. And I am the aunt who keeps the secrets, so I’m not supposed to tell the in-laws about the colorful clothing. (She wants it to be a surprise.)

So it appears my reign as agony aunt is over, since she has turned her life around with a lot of hard work on her part. I’m so happy she’s no longer in such emotional pain. Two summers ago she was the half-caste daughter of an emotionally vulnerable Mom in a restrictive Muslim school, now she’s the exotic young lady in the Drama magnet school she applied to on her own, auditioned for, and will attend in the fall. And you know what’s totally cool? She’s proud of herself.

But it is an adjustment. She shot down the Vans Warped Tour; I’m thinking she might want to have a Spa Day instead. Now that she’s dressing in colors (so confusing), I suppose the next thing is that she will become more and more like my in-laws.  As it should be.