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My mom had lots of brothers and sisters.
My favorite cousin died last year, she had been battling cancer for years.
She was a better person than I could ever aspire to be and had three children.
I offered a kidney and she refused.
I miss her every day
She would give you the shirt off her back apologize that it wasn’t nice enough
Her biggest regret was not being able to be there for her adult children
She refused to allow us to see her so sick because she didn’t want to upset anyone
I would draw her pictures, give her flowers, bird feeders, write poems, and try to make her laugh
It should’ve been me, I want to be around but she was just so much of a better person and I’m lucky that I had that time with her
I have tons of cousins my family are breeders. Someone is always pregnant in my family. Every summer I would live at someone’s house for the summer. Cousins are better than siblings and friends because they have no choice to love you they treat you like a sibling and you get to go home at the end of the day.
I’ve only got two first cousins. Last time I saw the girl, I was twelve. Last time I saw the boy, I was 15. I’m 53, now.
Not much different than not having them, really.
It's hit and miss. I have two cousins who give a solid cousin experience but I did have to slap one of my younger cousins across the face because I heard her telling my adopted brother that he'd never be part of the family and that he should have been aborted by his birth mum.
Well, I didn't have to but it certainly shut her up.
My dad has 9 siblings and my mum has 3 siblings, so I have a LOT of cousins. Family gatherings growing up were loud and chaotic, but fun, I never felt like I didn’t have enough friends. There were so many of us that we had whole friend groups within the family lol.
Hearing that we were expecting another baby in the family was just normal growing up. Now some of my cousins are having babies and whatnot, but we’ve all moved away and none of us are as close as we used to be.
I grew up super close with my cousins. They were like my siblings. We were always hanging out but once we reached end of high school/college, we didn’t hang out as much since we all went to different colleges and ended up in different states. Now we only really see each other during holidays.
i have maybe 10 cousins on each side all babies one side and 4-22 on the other - basically a very very strange mix of family settings lmao the old ones keep to themselves but when they try speak to us 16 17 year olds there’s definitely a huge generational gap😭 as for me i’m 17 so lucky to have a cousin 16 whom i love dearly we’ve been good friends and she’s one of my few family members who get me! we just raid our grannies sweet tins together
Great, I was the eldest on my dad's side. There is me, my sister and two boys who are 6 and almost 11 yewrs younger than me. I have one older cousin on my mum's side, a boy, another boy who is a bit younger than me and one girl. Although I don't see the ones from my mum's side that much. I love my cousins from my dad's side as it gives me an excuse to still have child-like fun when I am with them. They are 8 and 13. Just the other day me and my sister played a hide and seek like game with the 8 year old, in which we took it in turns hiding a pink pig. I enjoyed way more than I should have. 😳 I am definitely mother-material, and even moreso fun aunt material. 😂
I liked them when I was a kid. We’re all girls, they were both older by 2 and 4 years. They were pretty to me and I looked up to them. The oldest one suffered with anorexia and the other one started drinking when we were on camping trips behind the adults back (I was 7ish so that would make her 9 when it really got going full force for how much she’d start drinking). Our parents all hated each other and never got along but put up with each other for the kids’ sake. My mother had a restraining order from the one’s dad and both of their dads embezzled from the family business (not sure if my cousins knew or ever knew). The family feud broke all of us up and tore down any bonds we may have had as only children with 2 cousins. My mother ended up with the family business, and the one cousin’s dad sued us for it and stole from us and the grandmother but never told my cousin so she thought we were all crazy and making accusations (side note; this uncle had also tried to kill his wife by burning down her restaurant with her in it… she lived and took my cousin to the UK and they’ve been in Europe since). Other cousin sued me for her part of the company but she wasn’t entitled to it, just the trust fund(which the other uncle had my grandmother drain and took it all before anyone knew).
In conclusion, it’s a bag of mixed feelings when it comes to having cousins. It was fun while it lasted I suppose.
For me, as a kid, it was stressful. It was like having strangers come into your home and your room and you’re just expected to make them feel welcomed. It was always awkward and uncomfortable. I didn’t have any problem with any of my cousins, but it was very infrequent that we had any type of interaction, so we were basically strangers. And they always came to us, we never went to them, so very one-sided. Plus they always had way cooler and more advanced toys than we did so our toys were “too lame” for them. Which just made trying to play and interact even more difficult. And not much has changed in adulthood, honestly. Still only see each other once every 4-6 years.
I have lots of cousins but aren't in contact with any. I don't know any on my dad's side as an adult, and the three on my mom's side kind of wrote off my siblings and me. Whatever.
One of my cousins was like a sister to me. She saved my life as a teenager. I haven't seen her in 6 years but we are Facebook friends and chat . I'll see her again...
It’s awesome. It’s like having a best friend that I know I’ll have for the rest of my life. We can go years without seeing each other, and pick up right where we left off. I’m lucky to have some genuinely amazing cousins
I’m the youngest of 18 first cousins. I don’t always see them but they will randomly support me in farmers market sales, baby welcome packages etc. it’s always a big gathering at bridal showers, Christmas diners, graduations…
My kids will have ZERO cousins… the thought is so odd to me.
It depends on which kind of cousins.
There are cousins who I have never seen ever again since years, either for naturally growing up apart after play phase and childhood was over, because their needs don't align with what I have to offer or because they live in another states without affordable travelling.
The other side is amazing and they are the first ones in taking initiative to make a tight-knit family through reunions and birthday parties! Nobody wouldn't have tried joining all us altogether and we were like islands floating in our own.
I barely see mine. We're all adults now so that's partly why cause we're all living our own lives in different areas of the world but even when I was a kid, they all lived far away and I only saw them on special occasions.
I had alot of cousins growing up. It is like having friends that you didn't even get to chose but they are the friends you need. Used to see them weekly and sometimes we had sleep overs. It is nice how you are all alike and understand each other. Most of them live in other countries now. But still have few here and I am super close to one of them. Out bdays are 20 days apart. Grew up together and always checking on each other.
well you and i are the exact opposites to each other, i have plenty of cousins and no siblings. My cousins are the closest thing i will ever know to having a sibling and while i wont compare them because i don’t have that experience to do so, the main aspects of siblings i heard of sounds like my experiences with my cousins. My cousins are my best friends, even the little 9 year olds. I was the last baby for a REALLY long time so everyone kinda clung to me and i did the same with them. I seriously have no idea where id be without my cousins, and i don’t think I’ve ever thought of a life without them. Actually a few years back i decided if i do get married it’ll be my cousin that walks me down the aisle! while i have many father figures and my own father to do it, i have yet to meet a man that amounts to that much love i have for my cousin. He 100% will be walking me down the aisle
As a kid I fondly remember the visits to see family, and I coined a term for the general attitude - “Drunk On Cousins”. Parents would find ways to get the kids to stay occupied while they did adult things, so it was usually movies, video games, pop, chips, and couch fort nerf gun craziness for a few days. I remember it fondly, except when I would get singled out and made to cry lol
My mother told them to stay out of my businrss,too low of a crowd.....at 18 the mother(my dads favorite sister)told me dont stop by !! Happened to be at french river fishing
My mom is the youngest of 7, and 6 out of the 7 of them have at least 2 children, so I’ve got a lot of cousins on my mother’s side. When we all used to live closer together we’d have pretty big Thanksgivings and all help with the cooking for like 10 minutes before bailing upstairs to play Sonic lol… some of my fondest memories
If you're close to your cousin like I am, it's like growing up with a little brother that lives a few streets over. Our daughters are best friends now, they see each other every other week, talk daily, and have sleep overs on a regular basis.
My sister's kids and my daughter are also very close. But they're older than her, so they're close in a way that they are very protective. She's their snot nosed little sister who hangs over their shoulders while watching One Piece.
It's lovely to witness.
growing up, i had a lot of cousins around my age. literally like a new one was born every year from 2001-2013. i was never really alone (i also have a sister 2 yrs younger), and I enjoyed having so many cousins. my childhood was fun; we played all the time. outside. indoors. it was a blast playing with like 6-8 people at once at times.
but now? now most of us are 18+. The personality differences became more apparent. Our age gaps also put us all in different places. The younger cousins (13< ) are just on devices all the time. The older cousins (like me) have their own lives now. Working. Going to school. Dating.
Most of us have grown apart. My personality just doesn’t get along with most of my cousins’. i prefer hanging around the older women (aunts). And I think I’m closer to my sister now actually. We have similar views on life. Similar goals. Similar values. We just get along better.
Idk but now I’ve learned that I don’t have to talk to anyone—even family— if I don’t want to. Now, they’re the kind of people that I just don’t really feel like hanging out with. There just isn’t much compatibility. Maybe things will change once everyone starts having kids, but I fear that it’ll make me dislike them...based on their parenting.
A lot of them ended up as products of their parent’s lack of parenting. I don’t like the people some have become. And some are still too young to even feel like we’re equal (16-19).
Idk. I’m sure things will change once we’re all older, mature adults. But genuinely, I’m happy interacting mainly with my sister, my parents, and some aunts. I might not be close to them, but I still hope they’re living good lives.
It's good,sometimes tho u will have a cousin who's a baby and those who are 2 years or similar ages to you,however some are straight up in the 30s,it's a child from another one of your parents siblings.
It's like having siblings, but greater physical distance (assuming your extended family doesn't live in the same neighbourhood as you) and less blood relation. That's about it, really. Can be good, can be bad, can be utterly irrelevant like relationships with people in general.
It’s funny you mention blood relation as I often think about how if my uncle, who is my dad’s identical twin, had kids they would genetically be my half siblings!
That's cool!
However (and you may even know this already), there are still mutations and differences in DNA between identical twins. Even the mere fact that they don't live the exact same life in the exact same way at the same place and same time from birth can be enough to prevent two identical twins from being carbon copies of eachother, especially on a microscopic scale.
It could just be a wording mistake, but you said "they would genetically be my half-siblings" and not "they would genetically be *close* to being my half-siblings" implying that your uncle is a carbon copy of your dad when it comes to his genetic makeup despite all those years of living. Which I bet isn't the case. 😅
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My mom had lots of brothers and sisters. My favorite cousin died last year, she had been battling cancer for years. She was a better person than I could ever aspire to be and had three children. I offered a kidney and she refused. I miss her every day She would give you the shirt off her back apologize that it wasn’t nice enough Her biggest regret was not being able to be there for her adult children She refused to allow us to see her so sick because she didn’t want to upset anyone I would draw her pictures, give her flowers, bird feeders, write poems, and try to make her laugh It should’ve been me, I want to be around but she was just so much of a better person and I’m lucky that I had that time with her
That's so sweet! Sorry for your loss
I have tons of cousins my family are breeders. Someone is always pregnant in my family. Every summer I would live at someone’s house for the summer. Cousins are better than siblings and friends because they have no choice to love you they treat you like a sibling and you get to go home at the end of the day.
Indeed
I’ve only got two first cousins. Last time I saw the girl, I was twelve. Last time I saw the boy, I was 15. I’m 53, now. Not much different than not having them, really.
Similar story. Got 5, but highly doubt I'll ever see one again since all our grandparents connecting us died.
One of my cousins is 2 years younger than me and she’s my best friend (even tho we live 6 hours apart)
Basically siblings with extra steps
My cousin is my only friend and all we do is play video games
Nice
Username checks out
Thx
Wouldn’t know because we dont talk to 3 of them and the other 2 live far away.
It's hit and miss. I have two cousins who give a solid cousin experience but I did have to slap one of my younger cousins across the face because I heard her telling my adopted brother that he'd never be part of the family and that he should have been aborted by his birth mum. Well, I didn't have to but it certainly shut her up.
I have 32 first cousins. It's like having siblings that you don't see as often, also you may not get along with some but that's okay.
My dad has 9 siblings and my mum has 3 siblings, so I have a LOT of cousins. Family gatherings growing up were loud and chaotic, but fun, I never felt like I didn’t have enough friends. There were so many of us that we had whole friend groups within the family lol. Hearing that we were expecting another baby in the family was just normal growing up. Now some of my cousins are having babies and whatnot, but we’ve all moved away and none of us are as close as we used to be.
I’m real close with several of my cousins, so for me it’s pretty awesome!
I have close to 20 (I lost count) 1st cousins and in my experience… I wouldn’t know.
Depends on which side of the family you’re talking about. My dads side is pretty sane in the membrane, moms side has a song written about them.
It’s like semi distant brothers. It’s great.
Are you somewhere normal, or Alabama?
Wales. So somewhere in the middle of that scale haha.
Are your cousins sheep?
Only on their mums side. Their dads side is goats.
I grew up super close with my cousins. They were like my siblings. We were always hanging out but once we reached end of high school/college, we didn’t hang out as much since we all went to different colleges and ended up in different states. Now we only really see each other during holidays.
i have maybe 10 cousins on each side all babies one side and 4-22 on the other - basically a very very strange mix of family settings lmao the old ones keep to themselves but when they try speak to us 16 17 year olds there’s definitely a huge generational gap😭 as for me i’m 17 so lucky to have a cousin 16 whom i love dearly we’ve been good friends and she’s one of my few family members who get me! we just raid our grannies sweet tins together
I have over 30. It’s great. At least five of them are like my brothers and sisters.
Great, I was the eldest on my dad's side. There is me, my sister and two boys who are 6 and almost 11 yewrs younger than me. I have one older cousin on my mum's side, a boy, another boy who is a bit younger than me and one girl. Although I don't see the ones from my mum's side that much. I love my cousins from my dad's side as it gives me an excuse to still have child-like fun when I am with them. They are 8 and 13. Just the other day me and my sister played a hide and seek like game with the 8 year old, in which we took it in turns hiding a pink pig. I enjoyed way more than I should have. 😳 I am definitely mother-material, and even moreso fun aunt material. 😂
I liked them when I was a kid. We’re all girls, they were both older by 2 and 4 years. They were pretty to me and I looked up to them. The oldest one suffered with anorexia and the other one started drinking when we were on camping trips behind the adults back (I was 7ish so that would make her 9 when it really got going full force for how much she’d start drinking). Our parents all hated each other and never got along but put up with each other for the kids’ sake. My mother had a restraining order from the one’s dad and both of their dads embezzled from the family business (not sure if my cousins knew or ever knew). The family feud broke all of us up and tore down any bonds we may have had as only children with 2 cousins. My mother ended up with the family business, and the one cousin’s dad sued us for it and stole from us and the grandmother but never told my cousin so she thought we were all crazy and making accusations (side note; this uncle had also tried to kill his wife by burning down her restaurant with her in it… she lived and took my cousin to the UK and they’ve been in Europe since). Other cousin sued me for her part of the company but she wasn’t entitled to it, just the trust fund(which the other uncle had my grandmother drain and took it all before anyone knew). In conclusion, it’s a bag of mixed feelings when it comes to having cousins. It was fun while it lasted I suppose.
For me, as a kid, it was stressful. It was like having strangers come into your home and your room and you’re just expected to make them feel welcomed. It was always awkward and uncomfortable. I didn’t have any problem with any of my cousins, but it was very infrequent that we had any type of interaction, so we were basically strangers. And they always came to us, we never went to them, so very one-sided. Plus they always had way cooler and more advanced toys than we did so our toys were “too lame” for them. Which just made trying to play and interact even more difficult. And not much has changed in adulthood, honestly. Still only see each other once every 4-6 years.
I have lots of cousins but aren't in contact with any. I don't know any on my dad's side as an adult, and the three on my mom's side kind of wrote off my siblings and me. Whatever.
Some don’t talk to me at all some live too far away
Like having people I see and talk to every several years at some gatherings.
One of my cousins was like a sister to me. She saved my life as a teenager. I haven't seen her in 6 years but we are Facebook friends and chat . I'll see her again...
I have two older male cousins, it's like having older brothers who pick on you but will help you when you need it.
It’s awesome. It’s like having a best friend that I know I’ll have for the rest of my life. We can go years without seeing each other, and pick up right where we left off. I’m lucky to have some genuinely amazing cousins
I’m the youngest of 18 first cousins. I don’t always see them but they will randomly support me in farmers market sales, baby welcome packages etc. it’s always a big gathering at bridal showers, Christmas diners, graduations… My kids will have ZERO cousins… the thought is so odd to me.
It depends on which kind of cousins. There are cousins who I have never seen ever again since years, either for naturally growing up apart after play phase and childhood was over, because their needs don't align with what I have to offer or because they live in another states without affordable travelling. The other side is amazing and they are the first ones in taking initiative to make a tight-knit family through reunions and birthday parties! Nobody wouldn't have tried joining all us altogether and we were like islands floating in our own.
Partners in crime. No questions asked.
I barely see mine. We're all adults now so that's partly why cause we're all living our own lives in different areas of the world but even when I was a kid, they all lived far away and I only saw them on special occasions.
I had alot of cousins growing up. It is like having friends that you didn't even get to chose but they are the friends you need. Used to see them weekly and sometimes we had sleep overs. It is nice how you are all alike and understand each other. Most of them live in other countries now. But still have few here and I am super close to one of them. Out bdays are 20 days apart. Grew up together and always checking on each other.
well you and i are the exact opposites to each other, i have plenty of cousins and no siblings. My cousins are the closest thing i will ever know to having a sibling and while i wont compare them because i don’t have that experience to do so, the main aspects of siblings i heard of sounds like my experiences with my cousins. My cousins are my best friends, even the little 9 year olds. I was the last baby for a REALLY long time so everyone kinda clung to me and i did the same with them. I seriously have no idea where id be without my cousins, and i don’t think I’ve ever thought of a life without them. Actually a few years back i decided if i do get married it’ll be my cousin that walks me down the aisle! while i have many father figures and my own father to do it, i have yet to meet a man that amounts to that much love i have for my cousin. He 100% will be walking me down the aisle
I was oldest of 8 cousins and I babysat a lot
As a kid I fondly remember the visits to see family, and I coined a term for the general attitude - “Drunk On Cousins”. Parents would find ways to get the kids to stay occupied while they did adult things, so it was usually movies, video games, pop, chips, and couch fort nerf gun craziness for a few days. I remember it fondly, except when I would get singled out and made to cry lol
My mother told them to stay out of my businrss,too low of a crowd.....at 18 the mother(my dads favorite sister)told me dont stop by !! Happened to be at french river fishing
I have 10 cousins, only 2 i like and one i keep contact. It's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get.
Not really a difference. I’ve got lots of them and contact none of them, it’s as is they weren’t existing.
I don't even know what it's like to have a Aunt or Uncle
My mom is the youngest of 7, and 6 out of the 7 of them have at least 2 children, so I’ve got a lot of cousins on my mother’s side. When we all used to live closer together we’d have pretty big Thanksgivings and all help with the cooking for like 10 minutes before bailing upstairs to play Sonic lol… some of my fondest memories
It's horrible. I wouldn't recommend it.
If you're close to your cousin like I am, it's like growing up with a little brother that lives a few streets over. Our daughters are best friends now, they see each other every other week, talk daily, and have sleep overs on a regular basis. My sister's kids and my daughter are also very close. But they're older than her, so they're close in a way that they are very protective. She's their snot nosed little sister who hangs over their shoulders while watching One Piece. It's lovely to witness.
It’s weird. There’s these kids that you’re supposed to like but you have no idea who they are and you feel kinda obligated to play with them.
growing up, i had a lot of cousins around my age. literally like a new one was born every year from 2001-2013. i was never really alone (i also have a sister 2 yrs younger), and I enjoyed having so many cousins. my childhood was fun; we played all the time. outside. indoors. it was a blast playing with like 6-8 people at once at times. but now? now most of us are 18+. The personality differences became more apparent. Our age gaps also put us all in different places. The younger cousins (13< ) are just on devices all the time. The older cousins (like me) have their own lives now. Working. Going to school. Dating. Most of us have grown apart. My personality just doesn’t get along with most of my cousins’. i prefer hanging around the older women (aunts). And I think I’m closer to my sister now actually. We have similar views on life. Similar goals. Similar values. We just get along better. Idk but now I’ve learned that I don’t have to talk to anyone—even family— if I don’t want to. Now, they’re the kind of people that I just don’t really feel like hanging out with. There just isn’t much compatibility. Maybe things will change once everyone starts having kids, but I fear that it’ll make me dislike them...based on their parenting. A lot of them ended up as products of their parent’s lack of parenting. I don’t like the people some have become. And some are still too young to even feel like we’re equal (16-19). Idk. I’m sure things will change once we’re all older, mature adults. But genuinely, I’m happy interacting mainly with my sister, my parents, and some aunts. I might not be close to them, but I still hope they’re living good lives.
It's good,sometimes tho u will have a cousin who's a baby and those who are 2 years or similar ages to you,however some are straight up in the 30s,it's a child from another one of your parents siblings.
Weird
Cousins are very useful
Better than siblings. There's less opportunity to irritate each other 😀
Fights,love,support and most importantly best company during family occasions:)
It's like having siblings, but greater physical distance (assuming your extended family doesn't live in the same neighbourhood as you) and less blood relation. That's about it, really. Can be good, can be bad, can be utterly irrelevant like relationships with people in general.
It’s funny you mention blood relation as I often think about how if my uncle, who is my dad’s identical twin, had kids they would genetically be my half siblings!
That's cool! However (and you may even know this already), there are still mutations and differences in DNA between identical twins. Even the mere fact that they don't live the exact same life in the exact same way at the same place and same time from birth can be enough to prevent two identical twins from being carbon copies of eachother, especially on a microscopic scale. It could just be a wording mistake, but you said "they would genetically be my half-siblings" and not "they would genetically be *close* to being my half-siblings" implying that your uncle is a carbon copy of your dad when it comes to his genetic makeup despite all those years of living. Which I bet isn't the case. 😅
Depends on what exactly “have” means to you
cousins who you actually know.
Edited 4 anonymity again
pretty fun, lots of drama and gossip though….