One of the first things I disclose about myself upon meeting someone new is just how close my family is with one another. And I don't just mean close in proximity, or close feelings-wise, but close age-wise.
My mom has an identical twin sister and two brothers (one older, one younger) that are all fairly close in age. They not only had age in common, but also college. All four of them attended the same college: Gustavus. A tradition I have continued, and my sister will continue after me.
Three out of the four of them met their spouses at Gustavus around the same time. And three out of the four of them got married within a few years of one another. You're probably getting what I'm trying to get at: they all had kids around the same time. And when I say around the same time, I mean three of us were born within a seven month period. This ultimately putting three of us in the same graduating class for high school and college. And a fourth was born about six months after the OG three. To aid in ease of reading I'll give you a quick overview of the order of the first four cousins, because up until now I've made it muddy at best:
1. Bennett (October 1997)
2. Ella, otherwise known as me (May 1998)
3. Elise (May 1998)
4. Jackson, Bennett's brother (December 1998)
But, oh no, it did not stop there. Around three years later two more cousins entered the world:
5. Celia, my sister (May 2001)
6. Isaac, Elise's brother (October 2001)
If you haven't picked up on it yet, six of us were born very near to each other in age. But it gets better: two of the families both lived in the same town and the other only 45 minutes away. Long story short, we spent a lot of time together growing up.
My fondest memories include trekking down to the little "forest" behind my house on spring days to play in the trees and build forts with the four of them. I picture playing hide and seek for hours on end at our grandparents house through rose colored glasses. We spent hours perfecting our Just Dance form and our favorite karaoke and Rockband songs (my personal favorite was Red Wine).
When I hear "happy memories" include sitting around my dark-wood dining room table eating our great-grandma's fruit salad while talking about what our next fort would look. And what pillows and blankets we would place where for maximal comfort and structure. Don't get me wrong, I have fond memories with friends growing up, but doing cannonballs into my above-ground pool after eating chips and salsa with five of my favorite people, who I just so happen to be related to, are the basis for my childhood memories.
Over the years our familial relationship evolved to something in between the typical cousin relationship and sibling relationship. Something I have never been able to come up with the right label for. I grew up thinking it was normal to consider your cousins your "absolute bffs". The people whose houses you could charge right into to take a nap in after school if need be. The people you had "cousin sleepovers" with during family gatherings, where you didn't really get much sleep. The people you liked so much that you looked forward to family gatherings.
I've pretty much given up on trying to label my deep-seeded friendship with my cousins. But I suppose that is how I ended up with 5 siblings, isn't it? To this day, my cousins are some of the most important people in my life, and I don't see that changing.
This isn't meant to be all high and mighty and rubbing my good relationship with my family in the faces of those whose familial relationships might be strained. It's more of a thank-you letter to my family, as cheesy as it sounds. Because I am who I am today because of them. And that's that on that.
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