The Dawson Extended Family Site

By Alexa

Emma told me she was posting on the website again and my first thought was absolutely not.

My second thought was does Mom know?

My third thought was please tell me there is no comment section.

There is a comment section.

I am choosing peace.

For those of you who are somehow reading this because Emma sent the link in the family group chat and then immediately muted everyone, hello. It’s Alexa. I was twenty in the old posts, which means I was apparently considered one of the adults.

This is funny because I was still using my college dining card to buy cereal for dinner.

Now I am thirty-three, married to Harrison, and have two children, Matilda Jean and Maxwell Charles, who goes by Wells because he decided at age two that Maxwell was “too many mouth sounds.” He is six now and still stands by this.

Matilda is eight and has asked me three times why Aunt Emma’s website “looks like a museum for cousins.”

I told her that was actually pretty accurate.

Anyway, congratulations to Emma and Reid. I know Emma is pretending to be calm because she has written a charmingly weird essay about old earrings and math worksheets, but she called me last week because she cried at a commercial and thought that meant something was wrong.

It did not.

It means she is pregnant and has always been dramatic.

Also, before anyone asks, no, I do not remember my password from 2013. I was hoping none of us did.

Clearly, I underestimated Emma.

— Alexa