Cousins by chance, friends by choice. Throughout the course of my life, my younger cousins have become my best friends. Since I am the baby in my immediate family, and my sister is six years older than me, I never really had someone to play or hang out with. The age gap between my sister and I often left us in different stages in our lives, causing her to be busy with school and her social life. Every so often our schedules would match up and we'd be able to hang out, but for the times that wasn't the case, I became very close to my cousins.
Living two minutes away from each other and attending the same grade school made bonding a lot easier. Friday’s and Saturday’s were spent with school friends, but Sunday’s, the days we weren’t allowed to hang with others, I spent time with my cousins. I was the oldest, so I was the boss, whether they knew it or not. With being the boss came many responsibilities; I made sure they stayed out of trouble, made sure they were doing well academically and socially in school, and made sure that they were happy, even if that meant getting the right color lego piece. I took them under my wing, and tried to make sure that they knew they were never alone.
When I entered high school, my relationship with my cousins changed a bit. I did not see them at school anymore, and our Sunday hangouts were not as frequent. Although that was the case, my summer job became driving them places and making sure they did everything that needed to get done. I was incredibly lucky, because instead of my job being a chore, it became something I looked forward to every day. Until high school, I hadn’t realized how important my cousins were and still are to me. My oldest cousin had been in my life since I was 2, my middle cousin since I was 5, and my youngest since I was 8. We grew up together, and they helped shape me into the person I am today. In a way, I was finally an older sister and someone to be a role model to. They made my life better. They gave me a reason to be more excited about holidays. They gave me a reason to look forward to Sundays, or even Mondays so I could see them at school. I knew that no matter what happened, they would always be there.
I thank God for blessing me with such awesome cousins that double as my lifelong best friends, and I cannot wait to see where the future may take us.
**To my cousins: Thank you for the good times and the bad. You have gotten me through some of the toughest times in my life, and for that I am forever thankful. I will always be your shoulder to cry on when life seems to be falling apart, and I will always be the person you can call when everything is going your way. I love you guys to death, and I will always be your big cousin.
