Collaborative Lego
It was like time travel but without the hideous 80s clothes.
My youngest sister had joined us for Thanksgiving and on Friday we found ourselves just hanging around the house. Our eldest had the Lego out, but, as is his way, had moved on to more interesting things. The Lego bin sat in the middle of the room like a bomb crater, surrounded by a circle of plastic shrapnel.
We found ourselves hanging around the blue Tupperware crate, perhaps initially drawn there by the need to pick up the scattered bricks. Soon we were both building multicolored houses. We rattled through the bin in search of the next piece. I recounted how Mom made me promise to keep the Lego for her grandkids. I kept that promise, and here I was, still playing with them anyway.
“I need a two by four,” I might casually remark. While looking for her own pieces, she’d toss one over the edge of the bin into my work area.
“Thanks,” I’d say, not looking up.
We took turns, each finding pieces while occasionally chucking out the other’s when we came across them. She built her roof using 2 by X sloped pieces. Automatically, I started using the 3 by X slopes for the roof of mine; like a subconscious symbiotic relationship — I’ll use what you don’t.
An hour passed like nothing. We finally put our completed houses on the coffee table, displaying them proudly to anyone remotely interested. We had spent a great time sitting next to each other on the floor, building Lego, occasionally chatting, just like when we were kids. The only thing missing was our other sister hogging all the good pieces.