July 24th, also known as National Cousins Day, is a great national holiday that allows us to celebrate some amazing people in our lives: our cousins! Cousins are the friends that really are your true family not just the friends that you wish were. Whether you have too many cousins to count, or only a handful… they can be some of the people you can always count on the most.
For the most part, we all grew up together. We supported one another through our early stages in life and were so grateful to have each other as friends to this day. Our families have been through countless trips to the zoo together, been in too many photos even necessary and had our fair share of sleepovers. Even though cousins grow apart because of a move to a different state or busy schedules, there is always that cousin bond that still comes to life when we are reunited once again. Having cousins to grow up with is one of God’s great blessings.
They make the family gatherings bearable. I always know it will be much more fun and a lot less boring if my cousins are around for a family party or outing. Usually that is the "make or break" of whether I will want to attend or not! As cousins we know the ins and outs of our crazy, sometimes chaotic, families, and having someone to share the drama with can lead to a much better time. The laughs we share are some of the greatest and I am so grateful to have shared some of the best memories of my life with my cousins.
We will always be family. That is what makes our bond as friends so unbreakable. Family is family and that is always what counts in life. Other friends we may have can walk in and out of our lives but family, as much as they might try to, will not. No matter what distance is between us, or time we have gone without seeing each other, we will always be family. I know I will always be able to count on my cousins to be there for me if I ever need them.
As family, we all know we love each other without even having to say it. It’s a given. We’ve loved each other since the moment we all had first met one another. Without having to reach out to the other, we know that we are loved and cared about by them. I will always be so proud of my cousin’s accomplishments and big steps in their lives and I know that goes both ways.
Cousins are one of God’s many great gifts we are given and I am so happy to have a big family with my fair share of cousins to have experienced my life with. We truly are one big happy family. There is nobody else I would rather have shared some huge life moments with. It’s crazy to think of a world without them.
