As I've written before, my siblings and I are bi-racial with a white mom and a black dad. If it's not obvious, my mom's side the family is all white while my dad's side of the family is all black.
Basically, we're the glue that connects the two races in our family. As I've also mentioned before, I've grown up with my mom's side of the family.
All my cousins went to the same schools as me, well when I wasn't cyber schooled. We played on the same sports teams, rode the same bus and live six minutes away from each other. To us, we were all the same, some of us were just a little darker than others. It never really hit me that we were cousins until people tried to tell us we weren't and that was the first of many things that happen when you look nothing like your cousins:
1. You have a best friend.
I mean, we're cousins, right? That's a built-in best friend.
2. People never believe you when you say you're cousins.
Actually, we are. Our mom's are sisters.
3. When they realize you're not joking and they try to do the math.
Don't strain yourself too much.
4. Sometimes your cousins look more like your mom's kids than you do.
It doesn't bother me, I just find it amusing, especially when my mom does something embarrassing and I have the capability to convince people that I have no idea who she is.
5. Sharing clothing isn't always easy.
Colors that look good on one of us, don't usually look great on the other.
6. No matching hairstyles
We can try, but it's not going to work when we have completely opposite types of hair.
7. We always have colorful pictures.
Be careful who you say that around, they might not like that.
8. Side dishes are quite different.
On my dad's side, they're all about the greens and sweet potatoes, both of which, I want nothing to do with. On my mom's side, the only greens we have are cucumbers.
9. We look like a blended family.
Add in my brother's (Asian) best friend and wait for all the stares of people trying to figure out how we all fit.
10. There's a whole other level of jokes we can make.
I'll leave it at that.
11. You seem totally cool when both sides of the family show up for your game.
Which side of the family did he get his dunking ability? In my family, that's an easy question, definitely not my mom.
12. In the words of Sister Sledge, "we are family."
We may look nothing alike and draw stares, but who wants to be boring?
