I know we are technically family so we kind of have to like each other, but I'd probably still like you if you weren't my cousin. You, of all people, know that's a huge compliment coming from me. You know that because we are basically the same person.
I feel like we have always been pretty close. I mean, if it hadn't have been for you pushing me down as an infant, I might've learned to crawl sooner. But, hey, it's all good. I'm 19 and walking now. That is all that matters, right?
Without you, I probably wouldn't be so weird or have pink hair. I'd probably have a worse taste in music and I wouldn't have the job I do. My humor might be less sadistic and I might not be as sassy. Well, actually, that I probably could've handled that on my own.
Growing up with you was like having a built in best friend. I feel like I got lucky with all of my cousins on both sides of my family, in that we're all pretty close. The kind of close where we don’t have to talk every day to know we still care. You and I, on the other hand, do talk every day. If my phone ever goes off six or seven times in a row, I know it is you. You’re the only person that can do that and not irritate me.
Not only do we both have serial killer handwriting, we favor each other in looks as well. Enough that we could confuse your daughter when she was an infant. We have some pretty good genes, if I do say so myself.
It is probably a good thing there's a seven year age difference between us. Otherwise, I am not sure how our Nana would've handled keeping us in the summers.
I'll never forget when we came up with a word for our relationship, "frousins." You know, friend cousins? We thought it was hilarious. No one else would've laughed if they had been there. It isn't even one of those "you had to have been there moments."
If anyone has a "frousin" like you, they are a lucky one. I consider myself extremely lucky. Sometimes I forget we are cousins until I show up at family gatherings and I can hear you talking, or rather yelling, from the next room. Thank you for being there at all hours of the day, even if it’s five in the morning when I call.