We've been each other's best friends. When everyone else's parents would plan outings with their friends, you would take us with you everywhere. I thought that once you became a parent, all of your friends would go away. Besides, all you needed were your beautiful, perfect children. Other kids would talk about what they would do with their babysitter or at their daycare, and I would smile thinking about being able to spend the afternoon eating whatever I wanted at my grandma's house.
Sure you could get a little lonely with only your siblings or cousins to play with, but they were the best first friends you could ask for. The awkward introduction stage is completely non-existent. There is no weird small talk, or trying to find friends, especially if they all live close. If you were one of the lucky ones to go to school with your cousins, you never had to worry about being alone. No need to worry about being nervous about inviting them over to your house, because they grew up in your family drama and were completely cool with it. You'd be kidding yourself if you'd say you guys were not at least an instigator of a little bit of your family's drama.
You can definitely name more than once where you have gotten sick and tired of being around your family all of the time. Some have the family members that get too loud, stick their nose in everyone's business, or give you advice that you don't want to hear. You've probably also lost count of all of the times your family has gotten on your last nerve.
No matter how much you may fight or get on each other's nerves, you'd never trade the closeness you have with your family for anything in the world. You know that when tragedy hits, there will always be someone who will be there for you. There will be someone who has known you for your entire life and they will be the best rock you could've asked for. Your family is the one group of people who you know will be there, or at least aren't allowed to go away.
Regardless of what happens your family is always going to be your family. Even if you never talk, close-knit families are always able to pick back up right where they started. No fight or feud can get in the way of the unbreakable connection that exists with these relationships.
So thank you guys, for being there through all of the drama and growing pains, through our successes and failures, and to see us where we are today. Thank you for being able to pull each other together when we're feeling weak. To help lift each other up in times of sorrow. Not to mention being the best support system anyone could ask for.
