Flashback Friday: Me & My Cousin

Is anybody else really excited that its Friday? Not that I've got anything special going on this weekend or anything, because I don't- I'm just absolutely pass-out-where-I-stand, exhausted. Anybody else having one of those kinds of weeks?

...I can't wait to just be pregnant and lazy this weekend.
As opposed to being pregnant and obsessively busy.

This Mama needs a break.

But before (you &) I take that break...



I've been thinking about my family a lot lately. Family that I was close to, family that I was never close to, and family that I wish I had been close to. I've been pondering the family that I like, the family that I dislike, and the family that may or may not have liked me back.

My memories always center around the family that I was closest to. My Dad's parents, "Grams and Papa". My Mom's parents, "Grammy and Grandpa", and then my Aunt Laurie, my Uncle Brian, and my Cousin Frank. And my Great Aunt Peg. Those are the handful of people that will always and forever be kept the very closest to my heart.

There are other family members, yes, that I think about and love- but for some reason the pull that I feel towards those faces, just isn't the same.

One of the people I just mentioned specifically, was my Cousin Frank.

He was born just 6 months before me, and we were best friends. I would spend days and nights with him, we'd make up songs together and watch David the Gnome, we'd go swimming in pools and at lakes, and play Ghostbusters in his backyard. He was the closest thing to a sibling that I ever had. I'm sure we must have fought some of the time, but from what I remember, he was the only person in the world who understood me.

I remember one time, he made up a song about bacon bits. Its the stupidest song, but I remember every single word, even though the words were constantly changing. I still sing it to myself whenever I'm anywhere near a bacon bit. I sang it today, in fact, when I was sprinkling some on top of my husbands vegetable soup.

One time we put on the largest shirts we could find, and stuffed them with every pillow from around the house that we could find. Why? Because we wanted to pretend that we were Oompa Loompas. And then, because it was the absolute funniest thing to us, we somehow walked up the stairs that way, and Oompa Loompa'd ourselves at my Grams and Papa, thinking they'd find it just as funny as we did.

...well they didn't. But-

Anyways, my parents and I moved away from California in 1990, I think, and my cousin and I grew apart. We visited during the summers and sometimes Christmas, but soon even that wasn't enough to hold our bond together. By the time we had graduated from high school, we had each taken completely separate paths, and now we don't know each other at all. It makes me so sad to think about, how he was once my best friend, and my brother really- and now hes a total stranger.

Its been 7 years since I've seen him, and 4 years since I've talked to him.

I'm grateful though, for all of the wonderful memories that I have from my childhood. Its those memories that I keep in mind when watching my own babies play. They'll have similar memories, and see each other in the same light, I hope.

(we can all thank my hormones for this nostalgic post, ok?)

Here are a couple three or so pictures, of Frank and I, from my days in Hayward...

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Come and flashback with us! We love to see new faces! Just scan in or upload a picture from your past, write a little blurb to go with it (it doesn't have to be a novel, we're all pleased with as little as a caption), and then add your link to the list below! Make sure to either grab our Flashback Friday button (wayyy down there at the bottom of the page) or link back to this post the old fashioned text style (we're trying to get the whole world to flashback with us). There are no themes, so you pick and choose what you want your flashback to consist of- none of us here at the get together are picky. We can't wait to see what you've got to share with us!