Eleventh From The Bottom, Not a Bad Place To Be

My cousin Ronnie passed away last week. We honored him today and in reflecting on him and his life it has made me reflect on my relationship with the rest of my extended family, mostly the friends that I call cousins.

I am lucky to have been born into a very large family. My mom had 11 siblings, 10 of which lived to marry and have families. I am one of 45 cousins. That is on my mom's side compared to having only 7 cousins on my dad's side, two of those I have never known. I know a young man who is the only child of two only children. He has no cousins. NO COUSINS!!!  I can't even begin to fathom what life with no cousins would be like. My cousins were my everything growing up. They were an extension of my siblings and often times I felt closer to them than I did my actual siblings. Summers spent staying over with the cousins was always, always a special treat. Some of them were my best friends growing up and others became my very close friends after I was married, with children of my own, when the fact that you might be ten years apart no longer matters.

Cousins are part of my history. I shared the love of our grandparents and family traditions. I have been in my cousin's weddings, gone on dates with them, combed the beach with them, rode horses, camped, did summer crafts, stayed up late telling stories, fought, made up, sang, danced, climbed trees, jumped in hay bales, swam, shot baskets, babysat, fished, sailed, learned to skateboard, and simply enjoyed life with them. 

Of the 45 cousins on my mom's side of the family I am eleventh from the bottom. Not a bad place to be in my opinion.  

We just had a family reunion last month. They are always a simple affair. Food, maybe a game or two for the kids, usually close to water so the kids can comb the beach while us cousins visit and catch up.  We never get all of the family to our reunions because some of the cousins live far away but we usually have a good sized group and last month was no exception.

It was so nice to be together and see everyone that made it including my parents and all of my mom's surviving siblings. 

We are all older now with kids and grand kids of our own but when I get together with my cousins I still feel like that little girl that is eleventh from the bottom.  

Having a lot of cousins means there will be a lot more goodbyes in the next 10, 20, 30 years. I don't look forward to those goodbyes but I am thankful that I will have them. It means I have been lucky to have many, many wonderful people in my life. 

So goodbye Ronnie. You will be missed. We will see you again and when we do it will be one heck of a family reunion!