picking up where they left off

it just doesn't feel like summer until the cousins get together.

coming from a family of six, there are ten cousins in total just 

between my sisters, brothers and i.
they have come to love each other soooo much that their age differences 
(12 years between the oldest and youngest) doesn't really matter.

although we live in different parts of the country and some even in a different continent,

when my children and their cousins get together it takes no time at all 

after those initial hugs and hellos, after comparing their growth rates over the year

before they pick right up where they left off from the last time they were together.

 

when cousins get together, no bed is too narrow to share, any extra bicycle, whatever size, is perfect for joining a group ride to the corner candy store, and no table is too small to accommodate everyone even if two have to share a chair.

they all know that lola's (grandma) famous ube concoction (purple yam desert) is the best,
 and one or two of them will surely carry the recipe into their future lives.

all the favourite games gets played and they get played by cousins with wild abandon.

 they have spent a good portion of each summer with each other 
that they have become so comfortable at each other's homes.

hence, play with cousins is play without inhibitions, because
each of them know that their cousins will just get them.

while the average size of nuclear families these days has decreased to 2 or 3 children, 
thank goodness for cousins to give this generation
 that wonderful feeling of belonging to a clan !!!

personally, i think this is important because they will have each other to relate to 
since they will have a shared understanding of loving and dysfunctional family.

 i can already hear their future conversations and reminiscences of crazy and insane aunts 
or of uncles who lead the pack on those wild adventures.

cousins,
 they are the best...
but really, they feel more like siblings that have become best friends forever !!



erica
xoxo