Happy Monday! I had a great weekend with the family. Although it was a bit cramped in my apartment, we had a good time. Luckily for us, we had a great waiter on Friday and after several beer tastings – I think my Mom, Dad and I were all a bit corked.
I am the oldest cousin out of 15 (my Mom is the oldest of 9). My youngest cousin, Spanks, is exactly 24 years younger than I am and then after my brothers, the next oldest is 21. Being the oldest and having several younger cousins, I am sometimes referred to as their “Uncle.” Definitely makes me feel a little weird since I am the oldest in my immediate family and none of us have kids or are even married. Nonetheless, I realized something this weekend – interacting with all of my younger cousins – I am practically their Uncle.
As I was growing up, I never really wanted to have anything to do with my younger cousins. I was teenager and they were 1 and 2. I went to college, they went to elementary school. Now things have changed. I want to interact with them. I want them to respect me and look up to me just like I look up to my Uncles. Granted their lives are much different than mine was when I was their age, I want to learn about the things they are doing and want to give them as much attention as I can. One of my younger cousins just got her own cell phone and of course is enamored with it. I wanted her to have my number and I wanted to have fun exchanging text messages with her. To be honest she got just as much of a kick out of it as I did – there she was using text lingo with her 28 year old cousin.
After the passing of my Grandfather, I appreciate my family so much more. I cannot even type that without my eyes getting watery. As I get older, think about my future and what my plans are, I hope that what I do helps to guide my cousins as they get older. I only hope that their memories of me as a family member are as great as my memories with my Grandfather and my Family. A tuo famiglia.
Deuce and Sully 