There's something about a cousin. With a face that resembles yours. A similar hand gesture. A familiar look. A feeling that you've found someone who understands. Who gets the wonky parents you've been living with all your life because your parents are siblings. Who celebrates the holidays the same way you do because it's tradition. Who loves the same grandparents. Who hears the same childhood stories. Are sung the same lullabies.
I grew up amid a sea of cousins of whom I was one of the oldest. Many of us lived in the same town and saw each other every Sunday for lunch and a pool day when the weather was warm. We lived for birthday parties at Grandma's. And we stood by each other as we got older. Those are sweet memories and I have often hoped for similar relationships for my children with all of their cousins.
This week, our family is visiting my parents in Iowa and for the first time, all seven cousins on my side of the family were together. The bonding was instantaneous and we had to practically tear them away from each other when it was time for my sister and her family to go back to Minneapolis. They are growing up a thousand miles away from each other. Who knows when we will all be together again? Yet, friendships were formed, memories were made, and my little people now know more now about the special friends they call "cousins".
I didn't know your family lived in Iowa! Where do they reside? I went to high school in Dubuque, IA and grew up across the river in Galena, IL.
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