Being a part of a family is weird. There's no telling who all knows the little secret you've been trying to keep, and a lot of times someone has already told your mom what you've said about so and so. It's a big mess of people who are too nosy for their own good but do it for the sake of those around them. The love within a family causes us to be overprotective, overwhelming, and sometimes tears us apart.

In my seventh grade year - about 2011 - my Grandmother fell ill. It was a twisting, turning diagnosis of different things and as soon as she seemed better something else happened. It was a dangerous time and it tested the family. By the time of her death tensions were already somewhat high, and after the funeral, the family ties fell apart.

My cousin and I were both coping in angry ways - this led us to stop speaking. Years of silence went by, spent wondering where it went wrong, why our family wasn't what it used to be. It was a disappointing time and one that fluttered up from the back of my mind quite often. I kept getting angry at the whole situation and placed blame and anger in places it didn't belong. Somewhere along the way though, something changed.

When my cousin's senior year rolled around, her mother and mine were talking again and they made a visit to my house. My stomach was clenched and I was nervous about all the time spent apart, but when we got to talking - it was fine and normal. We kept talking, I went with her for senior pictures, we exchanged phone numbers and just hit it off. Suddenly I had a cousin again. We caught up on life and drama, the ups and downs encountered during our years of silence.

Since we reconnected a strong friendship has grown between us. I can proudly say we have no hard feelings about our time of silence, just feelings of regret that we wasted so much time. So now, we talk often, visit when we can, and laugh without holding back.

Much love to you Tabatha Elaine.