I went to my sister's home and the entire afternoon turned into playful time.Nothing was planned.Nothing was clean.And that was the best part.
The door opened and the house hit me with noise.Kids were running.The TV was on.My sister was in the kitchen stirring tea with one hand and telling someone to pick up socks with the other.She did not even look up when she said, "You are late."That is how I know I am home.
In the living room,my niece was standing near the big wooden wardrobe in the corner.She was wearing a plain white outfit and a scrunchie that was already falling out.She looked serious like she was on an important mission.She was playing hide and seek,but she was doing it her own way.
She would press her back against the wall,cover her eyes and peek through her fingers to check if I was watching.The second I made eye contact,she would gasp and pretend she could not see me.Then she would run two steps and come back to the exact same spot.
"Your turn to count," she whispered and pushed me toward the wall.I counted to ten while she scrambled behind the wardrobe door.Her white shoes were sticking out.Her elbow was sticking out.It did not matter.In her world,she was invisible.
My sister yelled from the kitchen, "Get away from that corner before you fall."The niece ignored her and waved me over.We played for almost an hour.Hide and seek turned into cards,which turned into paper airplanes aimed directly at my sister.The tea went cold.The plate of biscuits disappeared.Nobody cared.
That is what I love about my sister's house.There is no pressure to be put together.The floor has crumbs.The couch has toys.The conversation jumps from school to snacks to some random story about a neighbor's cat.And somehow it all makes sense.
When it was time to leave,the niece hugged my legs and said, "Come again tomorrow." I said I would try.She rolled her eyes like she did not believe me.
On the drive back,I kept thinking about that corner by the wardrobe.A child,a wall and a game that made no sense.That was enough.
People think love looks perfect.It does not.Sometimes love looks like chaos.It looks like loud rooms,cold tea and shoes sticking out from behind a door.
And I would not trade it for anything.
