On the topic of Family

I was talking with one of my cousins the other night. For those not in the know, I have a million cousins. Not literally, of course. That would be ridiculous. But sometimes it feels like that.

So anyway, me and Mr. E were chatting it up when invariably the subject of family came up. And he says to me...not once but twice...he says to me, "You guys, our cousins, are like my brothers and sisters."

You see, we had just recently gone to a family function (shout out to Stockton, CA! wait...hold that...nevermind). There, we saw our parents interact with their cousins. They, like us, were very close growing up. They sang in choirs together. Went on camping trips together. Basically one big family. But flash forward a couple decades and you see that time, families, careers...LIFE... has pushed them apart. Now I'm not trying to imply that they were strangers. There was definitely a familiarity there. It was kind of that feeling that it was a bunch of people relating to who they were and not to who they are now.

This got Mr. E wondering if the same thing would ever happen to us. I mean, a long time has passed since we all lived in East Side San Jose, hanging out at Grandma's house every weekend, playing long games of Guarding Base (if you're interested in learning the rules of this totally awesome game, just ask). We've kind of split up to different places, with families now based in Sacramento and Las Vegas and one cousin soon to move to Japan. A bunch are in college. A couple of us have gotten married. A couple of cousins have little miniature versions of them running around.

I guess it's why I've been so thankful that my family has accepted my wife fully. And it also helps that she is very family oriented. Because part of my life is making my main family (my wife, me, my dogs and maybe future versions of ourselves) and my extended family live in harmony. And so far its been going well. They've accepted her. She's accepted them (even after the vomit incident). Who could ask for anything more?

So the question remains, "Would that ever happen to us?" My answer is no. It won't happen because we can't let it happen. We have to make a concerted effort to make the time. Honestly, we have no excuse. We live in a world of Instant Messengers, Text Messaging, Facebook, Video Conferencing, and Xbox Live. Keep in constant contact so that the next time we see each other, be it in six months or six years, we'll still know who each other is and not get caught up in who each other was. After all, I wouldn't expect any less from my brothers and sisters.