A Day at the Park

In the midst of all the drama in my life as of late, I was blessed to have a random day with kids I adore. Today my sister asked me to spend the afternoon with her two sons, Phoenix (5) and Kieran (1), she had to work the concession stand at her daughter Julia's soccer tournament. I said, sure why the heck not? Its not like I have a ton of other options in my life right now and part of why I moved back to Minneapolis was to be available for such a time as this. My other nephew, William (8) had spent the night at my mom's house so I asked his parents if I could have him to-I figure a 5 year old and an 8 year old are a good pair. It was all set.

Honestly, when I got up this morning, I did not want to get out of bed. I wanted to stay under the covers and bemoan my currently pathetic existence...but something woke me up just in time to stop by Caribou to get my large iced americano with white chocolate and make it to little Z's first T ball game. Z is another nephew who is 4-almost five. I stood by the fence cheering the little Z man on in his first t ball game ever and just before he took a swing, I hear "HI KIKI!" Z took the time to say hello to me before he took the swing at the ball on the T. Sure, not a big deal in the grand scheme of ending the war, solving the economic crises or even finding myself a job, but it was a trancendent moment for me. No matter what happens in the world around me, no matter what happens at my job, no matter who flips me off in traffic, I have seven little people who will love me no matter what.

After the T-ball game-Z did very well but they don't keep score its just for building skills-Phoenix asked to ride back to grandma's house with me. Grandma's house is literally across Foley Boulevard and down half a block. He rode with me, again making me feel incredibly important and loved by a five year old. We got to grandma's house-my sister went to get little man (Kieran) while my other sister and I entertained the three young men with some baseball practice. I asked Z to stay while AJ went to Malcolm's (yet another nephew) baseball game. We decided on Taco Bell and Burger King for lunch. Mom was on the patio to make sure the boys didn't kill one another or get stolen so I figured I would head out to get the grub. On my way out, Phoenix yelled, "KIKI I WANT TO GO WITH YOU!" I said, "Phoenix, I am just going to get lunch and bring it back, its only going to be ten minutes, you can stay here and play." He refused, so I told him to get in the car. As we were heading towards my car, two other little boys, William and Z came to the car with sad little looks on their faces. I looked at them and said, "Ok, come on." And we all headed to the drive thrus.

My nephews chose to leave their playing outside in the haven that is grandma's backyard to ride ten minutes in a car with me to get lunch. That, my friends, is the love of a child. They simply want to be with you. Nothing major. They would have been happy having peanut butter and jelly on white bread but I didn't want to make anything. They simply wanted to be with me. That is powerful.

We got back, at our lunches and waited for Kieran. When Kieran arrived, we set out for the park with our suprise guest Kjarra (who just turned 13-my first neice). We played for three hours at the park. Three hours. With three little boys, a baby and a 13 year old girl. There were no fights. There was no asking for anything. There was the simple joy of enjoying a spring day at the park playing. We had sidewalk chalk. We had a slide. We had swings and a jungle gym-what more could you want?

Today I realized that life is not at all about what you do or what you accomplish, it truly is about the people you love and the people who you choose to invest in. All of my doubts about moving back here in Minneapolis vanished today. This is where I need to be-with my family and friends who have been there for me through everything. Life sucks at times, but people who love you don't care about you getting fired. They defend you against a sucky situation and support you-because they love you and see the best in you. I am grateful for the people I have in my life who have done just that for me. Some of them don't even know they do it because they are far too young to realize how their simple, innocent, love and devotion reaches the heart of their eternally devoted Auntie Kiki.