Cousins

First and foremost I must straighten something out. Husband did not, I repeat, did not come up with the very punny name for the dog. My dear and darling cousin J.G. came up with that entirely on his own. His mother mentioned it to us and Husband scavenged it. I just want to give credit where it is due. And J.G. has given us permission to use the name. Thank you, J.G. All those years of babysitting have finally paid off!

Since I've already started on this rout, I guess I'll talk about my cousins today. I love my cousins. They are a varied and motley crew, but life with them was never dull.

Inkling is almost 2 years older than I. Her mother is my father's older sister. We lived hours apart as kids, but she often spent time at our grandparents (in the town I lived in) so we remained very close. She never had a sister, so I have played surrogate to her...Gladly. We played dress up, camped out in Grandma's den, locked ourselves in the bathroom for hours at a time, and got in trouble for being mouthy at the dinner table.

Inkling had 2 younger brothers. J.L. Is 9 months younger than I am. He and I got along famously until his sister stepped in. I can remember him screaming in the hall, "She's my cousin too, Inkling! You can't keep her all to yourself!" There was not a just a little sibling rivalry between the two. I'm glad they've worked that all out. It's been years since I heard them scream, "I hate you! You're not my brother/sister anymore!"

J.L. made me laugh. A lot. He had a character named "Bob" he would break out on occasion and I loved it! "Bob" read me V.C. Andrews one night while Inkling made curtains until the wee hours. J.L. has now married a really cool young woman and lives in the Windy City. He loves music and their Iguanas. She's an artist and quiet (a major change for our family). I cannot wait until they have babies! J.L. was so fascinated by my pregnancies, I can't wait to see him watch his own.

Their younger brother is 5 years younger than I am. D.L. was always a little too smart. I always got the feeling he knew something I didn't. He had horrible athsma as a child and I can remember being very concerned about his health.

I have one outstanding memory of him (I have more, but this is the one that stays at the forefront of my mind). We were at my Grandparents after our Great Aunt's funeral. I was 17, he was 12. D.L. sat down next to me on the love seat and said, "Farm Wife, let me tell you about my sex life." My jaw dropped and I said, "You better not have one! You're 12!" He said, "I don't," and grinned at me.

He's married to a wonderful woman, they have a beautiful son, and are expecting another child very soon. He's still too smart and I love that about him.

My father's younger brother has 2 sons. J.S. and J.G. There was a time we didn't know if Uncle S and Aunt A would ever have children. I was young so I don't remember much of it, but I do remember wondering why they didn't have any kids. All my other Aunts and Uncles did.

I remember how excited everyone was when they found out she was pregnant with J.S. The spare room was turned into a nursery and decorated in yellow. I remember thinking, "Now where am I going to sleep when I spend the night?"

When J.S. was born, Inkling and I wanted to keep him all to ourselves. He was a rolly polly baby and the first I had ever really been allowed to play with (besides my siblings). I adored him. He's in college now, and I don't know him as well as I'd like. That makes me sad.

J.G. came along 2 years later and kept us laughing for the next 10 years solid. There are kids who come up with the strangest things on a regular basis. He was one of them. He proposed to me when he was 3. He didn't understand why I couldn't marry him. I tried explaining that we were cousins and cousins didn't marry. "But I love you and you love me and that means we are in love!" Since I wouldn't give in, he decided to marry Inkling instead.

I babysat the boys on occasion. I remember giving J.G. a bath and he recited the entire DD7 commercial while playing with his tub toys (it was some miracle detergent).

My favorite memory of the boys by far is when they found out how babies were born. I'm not sure they yet understood how babies were made, but they had a great handle on how they entered the world. I didn't know that and was watching them while their mom was at the grocery. We had a youth minister both boys adored and they always wanted to play Youth Minister and Wife. Since there were 2 of them, there were always 2 Y.M.'s and I was designated to play Wife. Wife was expecting their first child and the boys wanted to play "have the baby." I was given a pillow to put under my shirt and a teddy bear to be the baby.

J.S. then informed me that I had to lay back, bend my knees, spread my legs, and push. That was a little much for my 12 year old self to take and I promptly changed games to "take care of baby."

J.G. is also in college. He got into his first choice, a small Bible college in Central Illinois. His second choice was Harvard (at least it was in kindergarten). I don't know him as well as I'd like either.

That's just my dad's side. I'll have to save my maternal cousins for another post, this one is getting a little lengthy. I just wanted to let them all know that I love them all very much and I miss them all as well. Our entire family went on vacation together last summer. It was the first time in years we'd all been together. It was so much fun, but a little bittersweet. I'm not sure we'll get another opportunity like that. I'm glad we got the one we did.