I officially feel like the coolest aunt in the world.
My niece just finished her final volleyball game of the season—her very first season ever playing volleyball—and afterward, she walked up to me and casually said:
“My friend really likes your outfit.”
Y’all.
I held it together on the outside.
Inside? I was melting.
Because I’m sorry, but a compliment from an 11-year-old—and apparently her friends—is not just a compliment. That is a certification of coolness. That is peer-reviewed fashion approval from perhaps the toughest demographic walking the earth.
And I must say, the outfit was pretty cute.
Light lavender-purple relaxed jeans, a plain white tee, a black belt, and black ballet flats. Very simple. Very classic. Very “I didn’t try too hard but somehow understood the assignment.”
And, might I add, her team colors are purple and white.
Go Panthers. Woooo!
But underneath my enormous fashion victory was an even better moment: getting to watch my niece finish her first season of volleyball.
I could not be prouder of her.
It has been so much fun watching these girls evolve into actual volleyball players. At the beginning, like every new team, they were learning. They were figuring out where to stand, how to hit the ball, how to communicate, and how to move together.
And then, somewhere along the way, it clicked.
Now they volley.
Like, there is an actual GAME happening.
They’re locked in.
And what I love even more than watching their skills develop is watching the way they treat one another. They cheer each other on. They support each other. They’re friends. They work together. They celebrate each other.
That stuff matters.
They may not realize it yet, but they’re creating those little lifelong memories that sneak back into your mind 20 or 30 years later and make you smile.
I know because volleyball was my sport.
I loved playing it in school, and I still love it. Indoor, beach, whatever—give me a ball and a net and I am there. There is something about volleyball that requires you to rely on each other. One person bumps it, another sets it, another sends it over.
You literally cannot play the game alone.
And maybe that’s part of what I love about watching these girls become a team. They’re learning volleyball, yes—but they’re also learning how to show up for one another.
So there I was, already emotional and proud because my niece had finished her first season, when she dropped the ultimate bomb:
Her friend liked my outfit.
Excuse me while I alert the fashion press.
Someone call Vogue. Someone call Anna Wintour.
We have breaking news:
Brooks Gumb has officially received fashion approval from an 11-year-old and her friends.
At 40 years old, I am taking this win all the way to the bank.
There are some moments you know you’ll forget unless you write them down. And then there are moments so small, silly, sweet, and unexpectedly special that you want to make sure you never forget them.
This is one of those.
My niece finished her first volleyball season. I got to be there to watch her. Her team became a team.
And apparently, Aunt Brooks still has it.
Forty years old. Eleven-year-old approved.
Clock it. 💜🏐
