Aunt Sues Nephew for Being Too Excited at Birthday Party

"If only they could just hug it out," laments the New York Daily News in the case of Connell v. Tarala—Connell being 54-year-old Jennifer Connell, Tarala her 12-year-old nephew Sean, who she claims was so excited at his birthday party four years ago that he broke her wrist, the Connecticut Post reports. The New York City woman, who's suing Sean for $127,000, testified in court Friday that when she arrived at her nephew's birthday party in Westport, Conn., on March 28, 2011, Sean was riding his brand-new bike outside. When he saw Connell, she said, he ran toward her yelling, "Auntie Jen, Auntie Jen!" and then flung his 50-pound body at her, knocking them both to the ground and breaking her wrist. "I remember him shouting, 'Auntie Jen, I love you,' and there he was flying at me," she testified.

Connell told the jury she didn't complain about her injury at the time because "it was his birthday party and I didn't want to upset him," but she noted that the broken wrist upended her busy life. "I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walk-up, so it has been very difficult," she said. "And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan." Not to mention how it affected her in social situations: "I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d'oeuvre plate," she noted. Even though Connell says Sean—who the Post notes listened with his dad to his aunt's testimony looking "confused"; his mom died last year—has always been "very loving" and "sensitive" toward her, she thinks he should still be liable and understand that his actions have consequences. (These parents got an invoice after their son was a no-show at a birthday party.)