C is for Cousins

If siblings are our first friends in life, cousins are a close second. There are no long-lost cousins in my family because we have always been in fairly regular contact, thanks in large part to the close sibling relationships in our parents' generation. Our challenge is to maintain that connection now that these older folks are mostly not with us anymore.

Early images of cousin fun fill my memory bank. As the youngest of twelve cousins on my dad's side, and the fourth youngest of twelve cousins on my mom's side, I was most often the tag-along rather than an instigator. I remember...

• Laughing along when the games of ping pong became raucous escapades ending in wild chases. 
• Helping to devour the extra large Magic Pizza covered with razor-thin slices of fresh Ontario mushrooms that we ordered at 10:00pm unbeknownst to our dads, who then had to go retrieve it for us. 
• Squishing onto the back of the three-person toboggans as the fourth person, the one who bailed off onto icy banks when the ride became too rough. 
• Sitting by a cozy wood stove in Vermont watching elder cousins knit and crochet elaborate projects as we laughed and visited for hours, 
• Hiking up the steep trails under electric wires, picking up vintage green or blue glass insulators from the ground. 
• Searching for tadpoles in the pond and wading bare foot in the creek.
• Playing highly competitive games of Monopoly and Clue.
• Sitting around so many dinner tables, reminiscing and basking in family.

My memory bank is full. I am rich indeed.


Life Lesson: No amount of money or success beats time spent with family.