I am lucky enough to have a gigantic Greek family. Don't take the word gigantic lightly. I have blood relatives in probably every area code, honestly. With this huge surplus of aunts, uncles, and cousins, I have been incredibly blessed with a handful of siblings that didn't actually come from the same parents as me.
I have 7 first cousins that I consider my siblings and always will. We share a bond that we don't always admit to (siblings disagree, ok?) but we wouldn't sacrifice our closeness for anything in this world. When I was younger, I never thought of it as just my brother and I. I always told everyone that I had 6 siblings, really, and that they were just older or didn't live at my house with me.
Of course, this was technically a lie, but I was eight and my most prized possessions were my pink crocs, so give me a break.
All of my childhood memories include them. Every Christmas, Easter, birthday party, beach vacation—you name it, we were together. We rode our bikes around our Yiayia's house until the sun went down, built dirt ramps in her front yard without ruining her begonias, ate orange creamsicle pops upstairs before dinner and everything in between. My childhood was nothing short of spectacular.
Fast forward to now, things are a little different. My aunt and uncle added two babies to the clan in the past five years, so I got to experience a whole new bond and a love that I didn't think was humanly possible. I transitioned from expert front-yard football player and resident tattle-tale to expert diaper changer and resident babysitter. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
My cousins are there for me no matter what. It could be 3 a.m., early on a Sunday morning, 2:00 in the afternoon and every single one of them would come running if I called. They are there for a rant about a strict professor, an opinion when I might know I'm wrong, but need someone else to admit it for me and absolutely everything else.
I couldn't have made it this far without them, and I won't be letting them go any time soon.
"So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." Romans 12:5
