They say that blood is thicker than water, but we aren't even blood. We have a bond that is much deeper than that. You don't get to pick your family, but you do get to pick your friends. And those friends get to become your family and I am so glad that you are mine.
It all started with my dad and his best friend. They were brothers to each other, they called each other's parents "Mom and Dad" and they became family before they were even in high school.
As they became adults they took turns being each others best man, and as they each had kids they, along with their wives, took turns being godparents.
Their friendship created what our two families like to call, a framily, otherwise known as the friend-family. We have our holidays together such as the Saturday after Thanksgiving we have, Friends-giving. My personal favorite would be the road trips that we have taken together, along with the trips to Disney.
I might call her my Aunt, but she is more like my big sister, I can talk to her about anything, and believe me, I basically have if we are being honest. I can always count on her to be brutally honest with me, just as she can always count on me to come over and help out when she is in a pinch.
I remember the first time that I was going to Disney, I was eight. My uncle was the one planning the whole trip. He and I had a count down together and would talk about it all the time and he even bought me a book that was about all of the rides. I still have the book in my room. Granted, on that trip I asked more than my fair share of questions and he was getting annoyed, but I'll never forget that trip because of how much effort he put into it to make sure my sister and I had the best first Disney trip a kid could ever imagine.
As for my not so little "cousin," I remember when you first entered our lives and now you're all grown up. One thing that I want to thank you for the most is for this past summer when I jokingly asked if I could live on your couch when you get married and I am alone and you told me that I would never be alone. You might not have thought anything of it, but it was one of the nicest things that anyone has ever said and it was just so innocent, and thank you for saying it.
I am just so thankful for my framily and I hope that if I have kids in the future that they will get to experience the same type of love outside of my actual relatives.
