By Diane Forrest
My father had a brother and a sister, and my mother
had a sister. As their siblings grew up,
married and had children of their own, they offspring became my first
cousins. My father's brother was the
first to have a child; he became the oldest cousin, the cool guy. He was the one we all looked up to, because
he experienced everything first, and shared his experiences with the rest of
us. He also lived in the big city in Texas, so was able to do a lot more than
us in Mississippi. He was the first to
drive a car, the first to get a job, the first, and as far as I know, the only
one to participate in a rodeo. He was
the first to date, the first to graduate, go to college, get married and have
children of his own. Even though we didn't
have much opportunity to see him often, the times we spent together were like
we had never been apart. He was, and
still is, an amazing superhero cousin.
My father's sister only had one child, a
daughter. She grew up very close to me
and became more like a sister than a cousin.
We shared many memories together, many holiday get-togethers, and so
much fun. She was by my side when I was
married, when I divorced, when I had my baby, when I remarried, and when my
husband passed away. I know that any
time of the day or night I can call her, and she will be there for me, and
sometimes even with a frozen Sara Lee Cheesecake with strawberry topping and two
forks.
I recently celebrated a milestone birthday and these two
cousins conspired together and threw me an incredible birthday weekend. Even though I had been able to talk and keep
up with my oldest cousin, it had been 30 years since I had seen him. He surprised me along with my other cousin
and made the trip from Texas to Mississippi leaving me shocked, awed and
surprisingly speechless!
Friends my come and go in your life, but your family
will always be there. Some are lucky, and have many close cousins who spend a
lot of time together, and some only see each other and family functions. I am lucky to have wonderful caring cousins
that even though time and distance and life circumstances prevent us from
seeing each other, I know that all I have to do is call out their name, and I
know where ever I am they'll come running as fast as they can.
Today is Cousin's day, so why not take a few minutes
and call your cousins or send a text or email just to let them know you are
thinking of them and you appreciate them being a part of your life.
Let us know of your cool cousins.
