Cousins

I come from a large family. On my mother’s side alone I have 9 aunts and uncles and on my dad’s side I think there are at least 7 as well. Anyway, they're all married and have their own children so growing up I had a lot of cousins around my age. The majority of us are in our twenties. This led to some wonderful times, plenty of laughs, a few fights, but most importantly: a lot of love.

Every year we’d alternate between visiting family in Mexico, South Texas, and Georgia. There were some summers (or other holidays) that our families would come visit us here in Texas, but regardless of where the vacation was taking place it was all pretty awesome! There was always someone around my age for me to play with, and we all grew up spending time together. Outside exploring, or inside talking. As we've all grown up we've all stayed fairly close even with the distances between us. Every time we get together, it's like we pick up right where we left off.

Now, I wish the circumstances had been a lot different but this past weekend some of my cousins came down. As sad as the reason for their arrival was I still couldn't help but feel happy to get to visit and spend time with them. One of my cousins I hadn't seen in over four years! Since we were all pretty busy during the weekend I was only able to see 1 or 2 at a time for short periods. But on Monday after the funeral we all made plans to meet back up at my parents house for dinner.

And that is exactly what we did. We spent all afternoon talking, laughing, catching up, and eating some wonderful food as the rain came down. As the evening came to an end, and we gathered our things to head our separate ways, I made sure to hug every single one of them and let them know how much I truly loved them. Because I don't know when the next time I'll get to see them will be. And I left that night with my heart feeling so happy. I got to see my cousins. Emery got to spend time with them. I was able to tell them I loved them. To me, that was such a gift! And I am truly grateful for the time we got to spend together.