When we were young, the little Pea didn’t want to go to university because all sorts of crazy shit happened there. For one, college made you clumsy – there you would be, walking without a care in the world, a couple of books in hand and before you know it, you’d trip. THIS HAD TO HAPPEN. That was the rule. You’d drop your books and when you bend down to pick it up, some other crazy guy would come and try to help you. Your hands would touch and you’d awkwardly apologize to each other and when all the books have been picked up, she’d have to look at his eyes to thank him. And then, and it’s completely inevitable, you’d fall in love.

“YUCK, I don’t ever want that to happen. I don’t ever want to go to college” – said the little girl who grew up to fall in love with an amazing boy she met while at University in England.

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A few years later, we happened to be talking about soul-mates and relationships. I was being my usual, cynical – screw all romantic movie ideals – self.  And she was talking about how if she ever fell in love, it would be with just one person whom she’d eventually get married to and raise babies with. So naive. As if such a thing can actually exist. Real life doesn’t happen that way – you meet someone you get along with and eventually it’ll all flicker out until you meet someone else who’s fantastic. Marriage happens when you’re jaded and tired of sharing different parts of you with different people. So you compromise. Everyone knows it’s easier to share all your stories and feelings with one person rather than throw it around. When you grow older, it just gets harder to keep track of who knows what. Right?

“No, I know the universe can be cruel just as I know that when I fall in love, it’ll be for good” – said the little pea when she said yes to her best friend and the only man she has ever loved.

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There were nights when I would hear her cry herself to sleep. I’d just lay there and listen because I didn’t know what else to do. She was growing up to find that the world is cruel to people who are different. People are less understanding of people who aren’t skinny, who won’t compromise on their beliefs, who are too strong and opinionated. There were boys who she liked who could never take her seriously. There were girls who were condescending because she believed that you could be loved for whoever you were minus the makeup and skimpy clothes. From where I lay, I could hear the sound of her heart break at the realization that packaging mattered no matter how much people denied it. As the elder sister, I wished I could’ve protected her from it. I did what I knew best – I held her tight as she cried, hoping that she’d eventually build walls  to protect herself from further hurt.

She didn’t.

When she loved, she loved deeply and completely. When she gave, she gave it her all. And I’ve watched her suffer for it and I’ve watched her dance at the thrill of it. She never abandoned the hope of magic.

One bad night, as I was holding her, she sobbed “I’m never going to find anyone, am I? You can tell me the truth. I can handle it”. For the first time, with all the conviction she instilled in me, I knew that she would find someone incredible. If there’s something I’ve learnt from her, despite all my crazy cynicism and pessimism, it’s that sometimes, the universe works for you. It really does.

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My phone beeped in the middle of Kilimanjaro – I hadn’t heard from my family in a while and finding a working signal meant I had to climb trees. Looking at the moon rise over Kili, I received the single most moving message of my life.

“I have a boyfriend :O”

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Two days ago, I had the most incredible chat

:O

:O

:O

:O

:O

:O

He

Asked

Me

To

Marry

Him

Just

Now

And

I

Said

Mhm

And

Yes!

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My baby sister is getting married in less than a year. I am in shock!