From a young age, I always thought of my cousins as best friends, a forever person who was always there when they were needed. By definition a cousin is a child of your aunt and/or uncle, however, if you’re lucky they can be so much more. They are the people who should be able to relate to the way you feel about your crazy aunt or feel the same sort of sorrow when you lose a loved one. Cousins may not always be around, but when you need them they’ll be there.

1. They’re ALWAYS Fun

When cousins get together it’s usually a ton of fun. You always have new things to talk about and you never get tired of listening to what they have to say, and vice versa. They always bring you to a new place or find something interesting to do. Even if it’s just getting together to watch a football game on a Sunday afternoon or it’s a holiday, you have fun.

2. You Can ‘Trash Talk’ Anyone to Them

Cousins usually don’t personally know all of your friends or the people in your life, so you can tell them anything about anyone and trust that those people will not find out. That one friend pissed you off that week just text or call your cousin and complain and they’ll just listen and talk about them right back. To quote one of my cousins after telling her about a falling out between me and a friend, “I will end her.” Cousins always have your back.

3. They RARELY Judge You

While being able to tell your cousins anything they rarely judge you, and I say rarely because if I’m being honest they won’t always agree with your choice. When telling them about your stupid decisions from some sort of event they’ll most likely laugh and call you stupid, but they won’t stop loving you. Instead of ridiculing you for your ridiculousness they will try and give you advice or tell you not to do whatever you did again.

4. They Make Family Affairs Less Dull

Family affairs can be really boring, especially if you’re with a bunch of adults. However, when the cousins start showing up you know you’re going to have a good time. When my cousins come over we talk about our lives or play card games. While those things might not be very eventful, it’s better than sitting around listening to all of the adults talk about who knows what. The best cousins may slip you a drink or two, but it’s only because they don’t want you to feel left out.

5. They Always Make You Laugh

Whenever your cousins are around you can usually expect to laugh a lot. Either from stupid jokes or embarrassing stories, you always manage to make each other laugh.

6. You Can Tell Them Anything and Everything

Throughout your life you will face many difficult times, bumps in the road, and you won’t always want to talk to your parents about what’s going on (sorry mom). So, you just call up your closest cousin and just have a little vent session about all the things falling apart in your life. They will either just listen and validate your feelings or give you advice on what you should do next. They may not always be right, but cousins will always be a someone you can count on.

7. They Know All Your Embarrassing Childhood Stories

This is probably one of the biggest reasons cousins are your best friends. Mostly because they still love you for all the weird and embarrassing things you did as a child. However, a lot of those embarrassing stories that happened they were a part of.

8. They Understand the Pain of Seeing Certain Relatives

We all have that relative that we don’t particularly enjoy seeing, of course you love them, but there’s just something that bothers you. Your parents always say that you’re being silly for being annoyed by them or not enjoying their company, but your cousins feel your pain. When that relative says or does something questionable you always exchange a disapproving look with each other, which you all laugh about later. As long as your cousins are there to soften the blow the pain or annoyance is bearable.

9. You Can Do Whatever You Want (since your parents trust them)

This is one of my personal favorites about being so close with my cousins. Sometimes you want to go out and do something that your parents don’t always think is a good idea, but as long as your cousins are there it magically becomes okay. Obviously, this comes with limits as long as the thing you want to do isn’t absolutely insane you’re usually in the clear. A huge thanks to my cousins for taking me out and doing fun things when I couldn’t do them with my friends.

10. They’re Some of Your Best Friends

This is pretty self-explanatory, cousins can be some of your best friends if you let them be. They will forever have your back and be people you can rely on whenever you need them. Plus, they’re family.

11. They Understand What It's Like to Lose Your Loved Ones

Times like these are when you truly appreciate your cousins. Of course, you have your parents and everyone else, but you and all your cousins lean on each other during these hard times. I remember when my family lost our grandparents I wanted to be around my cousins, even if we were just sitting there. I felt happier knowing that we all had each other, especially when we lost people who meant the world to us. Time like these are when you realize how important family is, cousins understand your pain and are happier with you around too.

12. They Give the Best Advice

As cliché as it sounds cousins do give the best advice; from silly little things to huge decisions. I go to my cousins when I need real advice, especially advice I don’t want to ask my mom or dad for. Since they also rarely judge it’s easy to ask them anything, and you should probably listen to what they have to say

13. Even When You Haven't Seen Them in A While It's Like Nothing's Changed

Sometimes you don’t get to see your cousins for long periods of time and you miss them terribly. However, once you finally get to see each other, it’s like you never left each other. Everything goes back to normal and you do all of the fun cousin things you all love doing. The hard part is when you have to leave each other again and you don’t know when you’re going to see each other again. Which just makes you appreciate your time with your cousins that much more.

14. They'll Dance with You Just Because

The best part of family get-togethers is breaking it down with your cousins. They never care about dancing, so you blast the tunes and dance around the kitchen while your family watches. The best part is you all look like fools, but you have so much fun doing it.

15. THEY LOVE YOU AND YOU LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY

Cousins will absolutely love you no matter what! Oh, how I love my cousins.

So here it is a huge thank you to my amazing cousins; from being a playmate when I was bored at family parties as a child to being a shoulder to cry on when our beloved grandparents passed away to the people I could tell anything and everything to. Cousins will forever be people I will appreciate not only for being part of a great family, but for being some of the best friends I could ever ask for. Cousins are people who should truly cherish.