Auntie Time

Tonight I had a dinner and movie date with my 8-year-old niece Hope.

We picked the restaurant together. We got the good seats.

And about halfway through the movie, she leaned over and whispered that she was tired and asked if we could watch the rest when it comes out on streaming.

Of course we can.

We walked out of that theater hand in hand, neither of us the least bit disappointed — because the movie was never really the point.

The point was picking the restaurant. The point was her little hand in mine on the way to the car.

Auntie time starts and ends on our own terms.

And the best moments — the ones I'll remember longest — are almost always the unplanned ones. The early exits. The detours.

The whispered questions in dark movie theaters.

She fell asleep on the way home.

I drove slower than I needed to.

That's auntie time.