This weekend I realized, as if I hadn't known before, how much I actually love being an older cousin. Any time the extended family gets together is great, but this past weekend, there was an extra special occasion, my little cousin's Bat Mitzvah! A Bat Mitzvah is when a Jew comes of age at 13 and reads from the Torah for the first time. It was all a very exciting occasion and family from all across the country came to celebrate. It was amazing to see the kids I remember as being little actually growing up and becoming independent, running around and playing with each other. As one of the oldest in my generation, I love being able to play with my younger cousins and then sit down and have an enlightening, and quite often hilarious, conversation with older relatives.

During the actual ceremony, my sister and I got the seats of honor right next to the Bat Mitzvah girl on the bimah (the stage where ceremonial things happen). We even got badges that said "bimah buddy" and I could not have been happier or more proud of my cousin as she stood in front of the whole congregation and totally rocked it. Afterward, at the luncheon, which I also like to call "food and schmooze," I finally got to catch up with many of my relatives. They were all very interested in how college is going and if I am still on track with my career plan, and I was glad to hear their advice and praise for successfully (almost) completing (just two weeks left!) freshman year.

As an older cousin, I know that many of the younger ones look up to me as a role model and I take that responsibility very seriously. I love that they trust me to save their plate while they run to get some more fruit, (guarding cookies is serious business and the task must be approached with finesse and sophistication) and that they can count on me to lay down a beat at any time if the moment calls for some rapping. I also loved sharing a moment with my new baby cousin, affectionately nick-named "Squishy" as he discovered giant balloons, (they were bigger than he was!) The pure awe in his face instantly made the hair tugging completely worth it.

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with cousins my age as well, comparing our college experiences and laughing about each other's crazy stories. I am glad that our younger cousins have us to look up to. To end this amazing weekend, I rode back to school with one of my older cousins, which I had been looking forward to, and so my story comes full circle.

While I am sad that I don't get to see all of my family as often as I would like, I cherish those times when we do come together, and I look forward to more times in the future!