I would like to take a moment to say:
I am so excited for my cousin Margot's wedding this weekend!
Margot is just 3 months younger than I am, and though we didn't grow up in the same city - or even the same state - whenever we got together we had a blast. Along with my cousin Liz, a year older than us, we were known as the Three Musketeers.
To say that our families were (slash are) frugal is an understatement. We were not allowed to use paper towels when I was a kid - not because of green concerns, but because they cost money and hand towels or rags are just as good! So: Why send a kid to camp when you have perfectly good relatives with kids the same age? The answer is that you wouldn't. You would get them a ride with your co-worker, drive them down and leave them there, or in extreme cases, put them on an airplane.
I got to fly to visit Liz (and my aunt and uncle and two other cousins) in Wisconsin one summer for 10 days. It was pretty much the best thing that ever happened to me, mostly because of the airplane. I remember picking out my blue and white swiss polka-dot Easter dress and matching hat to wear on the flight. No this was not last week, it was when I was 7. But do swiss polka dots ever go out of style...?
That summer visit was particularly memorable not only due to the plane ride, but because I fell of the back of the swingset horse thing and got the wind knocked out of me for the first time. I was holding a grape popsicle. I hate grape popsicles, probably due to that incident.
I digress.
It seems that every other summer or so we would spend two weeks with each others' families. This didn't end when I was older - in fact I lived with Margot's family for two summers in Arlington, VA when I interned at the NIH during college. Entire summers. I began referring to my aunt and uncle as my "Summer Mom" and "Summer Dad," and Margot was my "Summer Sister." I re-named their dog - Cody - to Coco. I miss Coco.
I have ~30 cousins, and 7 second cousins, but only 2 musketeers. And now we're all growed up. Well we've been grown up with jobs, etc for a while.. but weddings are a milestone. One that I'm so happy to be present for.
Congrats, Margot & Nathan! You can be sure Liz and I won't be too far behind, as usual. Or so I hope. :-)
L-R: My mom and me, Aunt Mary and Liz, Aunt Jean, Kathy, Sue, and Erin (Summer 1981)
L-R: Me, Liz, Margot, Nicole - Summer 1998-ish at a family reunion
L-R: Liz, Me, Margot - March 2005
L-R: Me, Margot, Liz - Summer 2006 at our cousin's wedding (Mike <3 Heather)
L-R Margot, Liz, me- Summer 2009 At Margot's brother's wedding (Ian <3 Darci)
