Just Family

Our family Christmas photos used to look like this:

Lily, AJ, me.

That was back when Grandma lived in her old house. And leggings hadn't overtaken the little kid's clothes market. And there were just three of us.

Eventually, we became four.

Lily, Ena, AJ, me.

And then a taller group of four.

AJ, me, Ena, Lily

And an even taller group of four!

AJ, Ena, me, Lily.

But not before we added #5, #6, and #7.

Lily, AJ, me, Ena, James, Abby, Caleb.

Other people talk about how they haven't seen their cousins in ten years. Or how they don't even remember all their names. That seems so alien to me. The seven of us have always been close--and I can't imagine it any other way.

But us four oldest, especially, I can't live without. We're more like siblings than cousins. We've done so much growing up together and know more about each other than probably anyone else in the world.

When we were little we put on skits, then graduated to making movies. Our favorite make-believe game was called Secretary, where we all had stores in a mall and bought stuff from each other (I have no idea why we called it Secretary, actually. It doesn't make sense).

When we were super bored, we did things like make each other guess what food they were eating while blindfolded and play kick the can where the point was to hide as obviously as possible. We've seen 101 Dalmations too many times to count and flipped one too many Monopoly boards.

But even though we've gotten older, and we spend less time together, our connection hasn't faded. At the end of the week, I love it when Lily comes over after we both finish closing at work. With everyone else asleep, we sit in the kitchen until 1 or 2 in the morning, drinking tea and eating cookies and talking and laughing and catching up on everything.

Those early morning moments, just family busy being proud of each other, are so important to me. I don't think I could name another time where I feel so much love towards another person, and so much coming back at me.

Not that it's all roses. Of course it's not all roses. We have tons of fights, backstabs, and not-internet-appropriate dramas, just like every other red-blooded American family. But even with that, I think we realize that that is family. Nothing in common. Not heading in the same direction. But coming from the same roots. Just blood. Just love. Just family.

Getting real excited for a cousin-filled Thanksgiving over here.

Happy Wednesday! xoxo