To all the cousins out there,
You are the true MVPs. Whether you signed up for it or not, you have the special privilege of having lifelong friends that will love you unconditionally until the end.
My least favorite question of all time has to be, "Who is your favorite cousin?" Granted, the majority of the time I am being asked this question, it is at a family party where one cousin is trying to anger the others. However, of all the cousins that I have, there is no possible way to pick a favorite because you happen to all be my favorites. Throughout this crazy life that we're living, people come and go into our lives. While some stick around longer than others and some even join the family to become new cousins, the OG cousins are the ones that never cease to amaze me.
Before friendships blossomed, we were first friends together. We've been through countless family parties where the chaos and food was never in short supply. We've survived and thrived due to fat and awkward stages alike. Bringing an outsider into the family circle was always a test because few sane people could enter into the festivities and leave without running for the hills. I guess when you've known someone from birth you can accept their craziness a little better than newcomers.
As a kid when age seems to matter for being friends with someone, the only cousins near my age were the boys. For us, wrestling matches and dressing up as army men were always good sources of entertainment. Sadly as we got older, playing basketball with the boys was a little different due to our body sizes, but luckily the girl cousins tag-teamed and I traded toy guns for Barbies and Polly Pockets.
Being on the lower end of the age scale and looking up to the older cousins was the best part. I was never shy of a role model and aspired to mimic the adventurous or outgoing cousins in high school and college. Going to see the older kids in plays, fashion shows, and sporting events was the highlight of any quiet little kid's life.
Having an array of older cousins meant that you were never in short supply of hand-me-downs. If you wanted a pair of gauchos or leather pants, just wait a season or two, and they would wind up on your front porch in a mysterious plastic bag that magically appeared. Unfortunately by the time I received the clothes, my cousins had already grown out of the fat stage I was still going through and not many of the clothes fit.
All those near-death experiences at the lake that turned out to be nothing more than an older cousin "saving your life" made us constantly on guard for the surprise attack we all knew was inevitable. While the scares seemed traumatic, it gave us ammo to use back on them at our earliest convenience.
When other people wanted to hang out with friends on holidays, I preferred choosing one of the gang because of their lack of concern for the opinions of others. Being as weird as I am, it is a true blessing to find people just as goofy that happen to have the same grandparents as you. Christmas break means the cousins waiting back home with endless hours of laughing and adventures. They make the holiday weight gain seem more bearable because they're right alongside you sharing in all the cheer and mirth.
Beyond the first cousins, I love you just the same. Unsure of how it all works, I give a special shoutout to the eighth cousins twice removed and anyone else in between.
Although we have somehow managed to let the years slip by and age creep up on us, the fun part now is that we get to be adult cousins together. Our lives are going to begin to separate as we gain responsibilities, but I know that no matter what paths we take, we can always get together and laugh at who got drunkest at the latest Christmas party.
Salud, amor, y dinero a mis primos locos.
