If you are lucky, like I am, you will have cousins. There can be a special bond between cousins that you can’t find in any other type of relationship. It is like a cross between a sibling and a best friend. You share a commonality in your blood and your parents would have been brought up in the same atmosphere, sharing the same beliefs and values, this gives you, automatically, a secret insight into their beliefs and values plus you share the similar sense of humor, to a degree, remembering that each one of you is an individual but most of these traits are passed down from generation to generation in each family, and as cousins you share a bit from each family not just your own. If your parents came from a happy and loving family with brothers and sisters that they got along well with, then this special relationship passes down the line to the cousins. Cousins share a sense of belonging to something greater than just the family unit and this helps to shape this very special bond. It doesn’t mean that you will have this same rapport with all of your cousins but it gives you an edge over any other type of relationship.
Some people aren’t so lucky, maybe they are only children or their siblings don’t have children or their parents don’t get along with their siblings. These people miss out on what can be one of the greatest bonds next to marriage. Brothers and sisters can be like night and day, get along like two peas in a pod or a third option is that they are totally different but share a love and friendship that is better than best friends. I have been very lucky on both counts. My father and his siblings loved each other and loved spending time together. They shared common interests and an amazing sense of humor that ran through out their entire family. Because they grew up in a loving and caring environment, not just within the immediate family but with their other relatives, we, as cousins got to spend a lot of time together as children. Seeing how much our parents enjoyed each other’s company and valued each other’s opinions set a good example for us, seeing that they were there for each other through the good times as well as the bad, they shared each other’s happiness and sadness and were always there to help and the sound of laughter never stopped when they were together.
With my own children, they are all completely different and hardly share any common interests, although they share something even better. They understand the differences but don’t let that get in the way of their great bond and friendship. They can confide in each other or disagree, even get mad but that never makes any change in this special bond it seems to make it even stronger. They know that they always have that someone special that they can always count on and always comes through for them.
As we all grew up we started spreading out and having families of our own and slowly lost track of each other. Now with the internet we can do more than stay in touch we can actually go to their house and see them and talk for hours all over the computer, so the miles don’t keep us apart anymore. It is not quite as good as the real thing but it let me start to get to know my cousins all over again. With some of them this special bond has been developing. We can share things so personal and private knowing that they will keep it in the strictest of confidence. We share in family problems and joys and lots of laughs, but most of all we are there 110% for each other. It is hard to find some one who won’t judge you and just love you for who you are and support you through your ups and downs. As a large family group we make a strong force for helping each others families through difficult times, whether it be financial, health or just a bad patch. So you don’t just share a special bond with a few cousins you have an entire army of them, all willing to turn to and help out in time of need. This closeness can create a very strong positive force as we have been seeing lately with Mary’s call to prayer for different problems within the family. It works for the good things as well as the bad. My father adored his nieces and nephews, which was partly a carry over for the love he felt for his siblings. If he loved and cared for them so much, that was good enough for me because I could see the special bond he found in his siblings, like certain characteristics that carried over from generation to generation and he enjoyed watching them develop in he nieces and nephews. It is a great gift if you find someone you can share every thing with and it doesn’t happen very often but you have an extra chance with a cousin because of your shared qualities and traits. So reach out and try to renew your friendship with your cousins and you might be surprised how wonderful it is. I did and am still doing so. After so many years it takes a bit of time for the trust to develop and to understand each other’s way of thinking but it is well worth the time to find out if you have that special person or persons out there. Hopefully you have this type of trusting friendship with your partner but there is something extra special when it is a cousin.
Some people aren’t so lucky, maybe they are only children or their siblings don’t have children or their parents don’t get along with their siblings. These people miss out on what can be one of the greatest bonds next to marriage. Brothers and sisters can be like night and day, get along like two peas in a pod or a third option is that they are totally different but share a love and friendship that is better than best friends. I have been very lucky on both counts. My father and his siblings loved each other and loved spending time together. They shared common interests and an amazing sense of humor that ran through out their entire family. Because they grew up in a loving and caring environment, not just within the immediate family but with their other relatives, we, as cousins got to spend a lot of time together as children. Seeing how much our parents enjoyed each other’s company and valued each other’s opinions set a good example for us, seeing that they were there for each other through the good times as well as the bad, they shared each other’s happiness and sadness and were always there to help and the sound of laughter never stopped when they were together.
With my own children, they are all completely different and hardly share any common interests, although they share something even better. They understand the differences but don’t let that get in the way of their great bond and friendship. They can confide in each other or disagree, even get mad but that never makes any change in this special bond it seems to make it even stronger. They know that they always have that someone special that they can always count on and always comes through for them.
As we all grew up we started spreading out and having families of our own and slowly lost track of each other. Now with the internet we can do more than stay in touch we can actually go to their house and see them and talk for hours all over the computer, so the miles don’t keep us apart anymore. It is not quite as good as the real thing but it let me start to get to know my cousins all over again. With some of them this special bond has been developing. We can share things so personal and private knowing that they will keep it in the strictest of confidence. We share in family problems and joys and lots of laughs, but most of all we are there 110% for each other. It is hard to find some one who won’t judge you and just love you for who you are and support you through your ups and downs. As a large family group we make a strong force for helping each others families through difficult times, whether it be financial, health or just a bad patch. So you don’t just share a special bond with a few cousins you have an entire army of them, all willing to turn to and help out in time of need. This closeness can create a very strong positive force as we have been seeing lately with Mary’s call to prayer for different problems within the family. It works for the good things as well as the bad. My father adored his nieces and nephews, which was partly a carry over for the love he felt for his siblings. If he loved and cared for them so much, that was good enough for me because I could see the special bond he found in his siblings, like certain characteristics that carried over from generation to generation and he enjoyed watching them develop in he nieces and nephews. It is a great gift if you find someone you can share every thing with and it doesn’t happen very often but you have an extra chance with a cousin because of your shared qualities and traits. So reach out and try to renew your friendship with your cousins and you might be surprised how wonderful it is. I did and am still doing so. After so many years it takes a bit of time for the trust to develop and to understand each other’s way of thinking but it is well worth the time to find out if you have that special person or persons out there. Hopefully you have this type of trusting friendship with your partner but there is something extra special when it is a cousin.
