Now, I'm sure everyone has those friends in their life who are like family. Some added brothers, sisters, even chosen parents. But have you ever had a friend become like a cousin? No?

Well, let me explain it to you.

First off, I am the type of person who is extremely close with my cousins. Growing up without siblings, they were the closest thing I had to that.

Family, overall, is very important to me, but there is just some special bond with my cousins that is different from every other friendship I've ever made.

So, when my best friend told me that our mutual friend and I acted like cousins, I had to ponder it for a bit.

My cousins mean the world to me, and I would take a bullet for them. They're my built-in best friends. This friend of mine had such a familiar feeling about him — like he was a cousin.

And I didn't notice until someone pointed it out to me.

And since I've come to notice that, I'm thankful. It hasn't made our friendship weird or pushed apart. If anything, it's drawn us closer together.

And not only have we grown closer, gaining a better friend in one another, I've gained another cousin! And I think we already covered how important cousins are to me.

This friend is truly my newfound cousin.

I would take a bullet for him or defend him to a crowd just like I would for my own blood cousins. I have no shame sending him ugly Ssnapchats or rambling about a stupid story just like I would to my own family. There's a familiarity, a comfortable feeling, in this chosen cousinship.

We might not be related by blood, but he's definitely my family.

Every time I think about the fact that we're like "cousins," I laugh. I had never heard of such a thing until I experienced it.

It's funny to think how he's like a cousin to me rather than a brother or even just my best friend.

But no word describes his role in my life better than "cousin." I have a hard time letting people in and believing they'll stay in my life. And the thing about cousins is that most of the time they're kind of forced to deal with you.

The complicated thing about this cousinship is that he doesn't have that "force." His parents aren't related to mine, we don't have similar family members.

He owes me absolutely nothing, even when I'm a complete jerk (because trust me, I know I can be a jerk to my cousins sometimes).

But for some weird reason, I trust him and I've let him into my "family." And I hope and pray that he stays my cousin for a long while, no matter how intolerable I become.

Friends are family that you choose. I am thankful to have chosen him as my cousin.