Tuesday afternoon I got a huge and long-awaited visit. My niece Kioana came home after spending her summer in Tijuana, Mexico with her mom and siblings. I was certainly happy that she had the summer to spend with her brothers and sister, as well as her mom and grandparents but there was a void with her absence. Visiting my mom’s apartment felt different. Sure, the food, warmth and comfort of being home embraced me the moment I walked through the door…but it was a little less noisy, a lot less hectic and not as fun.
Kioana’s whiteboard sat in the living room, untouched unless it was pushed out of the way as we walked into the kitchen or back into the living room. On her bed sat the stuffed animals that she drags around, including Steve the Shark, bored and lonely. There was no cartoon hour, nor were there tea parties; her fairy wings sat and collected dust. But all that changed when my parents drove in with her early Tuesday afternoon. When I heard the faint knock on my front door I knew it was my niece.
Upon opening the door there she stood with a bag of Cheetos in her hand and powdered cheese on her lips. She jumped for me to catch her and I carried her into the living room until she decided to jump off to run in my room and get reacquainted with her stomping grounds. Kioana told me of her trip to the beach and the seals that she saw. She recapped her day at the circus where she saw clowns. She tried her best to get her hands on my laptop and after a few failed attempts she turned her attention to my phone. And so began her short but very important photo session, which included several selfies and a few pictures with both of us in the frame.
As the time approached for my parents to head home, Kioana applied her usual stall tactic of lying out on the couch as if too tired to move. When I asked her for a hug and kiss she got up, delivered both, put her sandals on and grabbed her bag of cheesy treats. And just like that my apartment was once again quiet. So tomorrow when I leave work and make a pit stop at my mom’s apartment, her place will once again have that extra jolt of energy that only a 5-year-old little girl can create. It was a fast summer in terms of work and social events but the days that Kioana was away seemed never-ending. In a household where debates can carry on for days and where there is very little absolute consensus on anything, it is without a doubt that everybody is happy that Kioana is back home.