There was always this saying when I was growing up that went, "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same." (Flavia Weedn said this, incidentally. You know, in case you were wondering.)
This quote always spoke to me, because in between its flowery words is a blunt truth: even though you meet all sorts of people throughout your life, very few people stay. Though I count myself lucky to have quite a few people who have stayed in my life for the long haul, there is one particular person (besides my parents) whom I can always count on: my first cousin. And you might be thinking that a cousin isn't all that special; they're just another relative to friend on Facebook and peripherally keep tabs on throughout your life. And, for some, that might be true. But me? I find myself so lucky to be able to know that one of my cousins is my best friend.
When you come from a family like mine, where you're one of twenty-six first cousins, it almost seems like fate had a hand in giving me a cousin that's only seven months older than me. We can pretty much relate to everything we're going through, whether it be boys, family drama or life in general. When life throws particularly sucky lemons at one of us, the other is always there to pick the other up. We have, quite literally, finished each others' sentences/thoughts, and we've given each other "the look" more than once. We've gone through the grief of losing family members and the joy of welcoming new ones into our crazy family. We've joked about how crazy our aunts and uncles were back in the day, had each others' backs through our first heartbreaks and contemplated anything and everything about life together. We've been each others' number one supporter, go-to shoulder to cry on and we've been each others' rock for most of our lives. We're cousins, but even more than that, we're best friends. And I wouldn't trade this friendship for anything this world has to offer.
My cousin-slash-best friend came into my life and, side-by-side, we learned how to teach our souls to dance. Together, we've come to new understandings of what this crazy journey of life really means. We plotted out constellations in the backyard at Grandma and Grandpap's and we've plotted out our paths in life (which haven't always gone as planned.) She's been in my life for nineteen years — as long as I've been alive — and the footprint she has left on my heart is irrevocable. I would not be the same person without her, and I wouldn't take back a single second of our friendship.
So, cheers to all the cousins who are also best friends. The ones who didn't get to choose what family they were born into, but who found a best friend and confidant in someone they also happened to be related to. Cheers to the cousins who've found you at your worst and picked you up when you couldn't pick yourself up. Cheers to all the cousins who have let you borrow their clothes, held your hand when nobody else would and who were the first to support you on when you made big life decisions. To all the cousins-slash-best friends in the world: this one's for you.
You rock. (And we love you. Lots.)
