Everyone has friends, and everyone has family members; only the lucky few get to call their family their best friends. Growing up, almost every moment was spent with my cousins and my sister, and not too much has changed no matter how hectic our lives get.

For the lucky ones that consider their family to be their best friends, there are some things we all know to be true:

1. You stay in constant communication.

For my cousins and I we talk all day, every day via a Snapchat group message. Our message is full of rants, support, inside jokes, and anything and everything there is to talk about.

2. There are no boundaries.

You've known each other your entire lives, so there are hardly any limits. Chances are, your parents bathed you together or you've shared a bed with one another on a few occasions, so can it really get much more weird from there?

3. Family dinners are never something to dread.

Everyone always seems to groan and complain when it comes time to get the whole family together for a big dinner, but when you family makes up your friend group, it's the most exciting time. I look forward to every single family dinner, it never fails.

4. You have tons of stories to tell.

When your cousins are your best friends, you've had many many years to make memories together. These memories may be embarrassing, funny, sweet, sad, anything really. But chances are, these memories are brought up and retold time and time again, which leaves everyone laughing, smiling, or feeling nostalgic.

5. There are no secrets.

Whether you tell them yourself, or your mom does it for you. We always know what's going on and what's happened in one another's lives one way or another.

6. Family gossip consumes your life.

When your best friends are also your family, most gossip and drama you have to share is family drama. But I'm not going to lie, sometimes family drama is the most entertaining and juicy.

7. You've vacationed together... a lot.

Growing up in a closely knit family was a blessing when it came to having someone to go places with. Vacations were, and still are, so exciting when you get to take them with your closest friends.

8. You've been through it all together.

The good, the bad, and the ugly, your family was there for it all, and it only made you closer. My cousins and my sister have seen me at by best and my worst; they've been the best support system, and I try to do the same for them.

9. You bond over the strangest things.

For my family, we all work together, and we bond over all our work struggles. We also bond over our love for animals and pizza. Anything and everything turns into a bonding moment, from watching the same things on Netflix, to ranting about the same things.

10. No one quite understands you like they do.

My family knows me like no one else, and they understand all my struggles. They make me laugh until I cry, and are brutally honest when need-be.

I wouldn't trade my cousins or my sister for the world, and I'm thankful every day to consider them to be my best friends.