If you wanted to write a blog about cousins---where would you start? I think most everyone would pick a different time, place and circumstance. Never-the-less here is my attempt at it.
Most of my cousin experiences happened because of my parents spending a lot of time with my Aunts and Uncles and not because of choices I made.
I was born and raised in a small town and there were a lot of Cousins there also. I suppose my experiences would be different in many ways from the ones who lived in a large city. on a farm, or a family that was very mobile but we all seemed to know our cousins if they lived close by.
However I also think that cousins, no matter, the size of the city or town, everyone at some time got together and the cousins seemed to hang out together, some times even if they did not particularly like each other.
In my experience some were called REAL COUSINS and some were 1st, 2nd, third.And I had some that were not even cousins, yet we called each other cousin or "CUZ."
I had a thought come to mind while writing this++A Cousin is Always a cousin. He or she is there through thick or thin. You may not a close cousin but never the less like it or not ,once you are born you will Always have that title! A husband and a wife may get divorced, but they continue to be cousins, they are cousins forever. The other thing that is interesting, that I never thought about is that age is not a factor. If they are cousins when they are young, they are still cousins, they are still cousins in their old age. And in fact a lot feel closer in the family when they are older than they do when they are young.
Of course I do not know a lot about female cousins as when I was young the boys and girls seemed seemed to stay away from each other at family Get-together's.
Cousins come in all ages, sizes and personalities. There were girls, boys of all ages, Rich, poor, Shy and the take-over kind.
At Family Reunions there were the dreaded "kissing cousin kind! I know they were real, as i can remember hiding from one of those in a canvas tent for two or three hours to make sure I did not have to go through that dreaded ordeal.
I talked to some friends before writing this and found that in many cases cousins were each others FIRST and BEST friends for LIFE! Yes some cases is my life were. However I think I was very close to some Aunts and uncles which helped me become close to my cousins in those cases
In our Clan, in our small town I suppose I was in the middle, both in age and socially. I also suppose that was good in some ways and bad in others. I am sure I learned a lot of good and some bad things from those cousins?
I am 87 years old now and I have stayed close to some of my cousins. However most of them have passed on.
I get a little confused here of late and some times call my Nephews and Nieces cousins, but it is not serious---I really know who you are!!
Wallace R. Baldwin
18-June 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment