I often tell people I have a big family. This may sound counterintuitive since I'm an only child, but I stand by my statement. When your mom has 7 other siblings, you're probably going to have a lot of cousins. So much so that I've lost count.
So yes, while I grew up playing alone a good majority of the time and I'd always had my own room, I never felt alone. Every Sunday spent at my grandma's house made me feel like I had siblings who just happened to live in a separate house.
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Growing up with cousins is different than siblings. You get the time to be apart, but once you're back together, you still play and fight the same as any other kid. From playing Barbies (deciding who got the prettiest one and who got the one with the chopped up hair and old clothes), to making up your own games (pretending you're all part of Harry Potter), and getting into the general mischief only kids can get into.
I'll never forget the time we decided we would make our own news show and record them (I still wonder where those tapes went), or the time we decided to have a "parade" around the house. So much of my childhood happened at that house with the cousins who became the sisters I never had.
Though we've all "grown up" now and can't see each other every week at Grandma's house like we used to, I'll forever cherish those times we had together. It just makes it that much more special when we come back together again. And when people ask me if I have any siblings, I'll say, "No, but I have some pretty great cousins."
