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So, yeah, family stuff, of the good variety.
Have I mentioned my cousin? I have only one cousin, and she is of the girl variety of cousin. She is sweet and quiet and kind to everyone.
My cousin is 6'2" and has long blonde hair. I would describe her as a "thin hourglass" shape. She's been offered modeling contracts. Objectively, she's quite pretty; subjectively, a number of people think she's really beautiful.
I, of course, am 6' tall, would charitably call myself "chunky" (I've graduated from "fat" downward to "chunky" I think) and the closest I've ever got to modeling was building very small replicas of things. I have skin problems and at various points I've had teeth problems as well (which are now fixed). I wouldn't really call myself pretty by any means, though I can look professional and act attractive. I do have long brown hair which is a little wavy toward the ends, and I think it looks awesome even with the sprinkled gray hairs.
My cousin is finishing up a professional degree which will allow her to work in a very well-paid field. I have a bachelor's and work at a job that requires a high school diploma, and while I make enough to pay the bills, she'll make more than me in her first year out of school.
I have a very nice boyfriend who is a stay at home dad and a kickass homemaker. We're not married and likely never will be. She has a boyfriend who is an ambitious student working on a professional career of his own. His parents are also fairly well-off.
Which leads to this: His parents flew the six of them (his parents, her parents, my cousin, her boyfriend) to Hawaii for a week. So, on her birthday, she was standing on the beach, in Hawaii, while her boyfriend presented her with a tremendously nice diamond and begged her to marry him.
She took a picture of the ring on her iPhone and immediately posted it to Facebook with the news. Did I mention that I have a cell phone and all you can do on it is make phone calls?
So, I allowed myself 5 minutes of the following:
99%: SQUEE! How awesome for her!
1%: I hope she gets bitten by sand fleas, develops hives, and itches all night.
But after that 5 minute bout of liver-devouring jealousy, I got over it, by remembering that when I got married at the age of 20, all my grandparents were there. They got to know my husband, and gave us advice, and passed along things to us with instructions and hints and ideas. And they got to know me as an adult, and a lot of who I am was shaped by my grandparents and their love for me. My last grandfather passed away last month, so I had 15 years as an adult with grandparents.
My cousin, on the other hand, is 22 and out of grandparents. They’ll never meet her guy or watch her get married, or give her a million little pieces of advice. And he could be the most awesome guy in the whole world (and I really do hope he is!) but she’s still missed out on some things I’ve had, just like I’m missing out on some things she’s had.
And it all comes out in the end, you know? Some people are rich in things, and some are rich in love, and some are rich in both, but everybody’s missing a little something, no matter how perfect it looks from the outside.
Have I mentioned my cousin? I have only one cousin, and she is of the girl variety of cousin. She is sweet and quiet and kind to everyone.
My cousin is 6'2" and has long blonde hair. I would describe her as a "thin hourglass" shape. She's been offered modeling contracts. Objectively, she's quite pretty; subjectively, a number of people think she's really beautiful.
I, of course, am 6' tall, would charitably call myself "chunky" (I've graduated from "fat" downward to "chunky" I think) and the closest I've ever got to modeling was building very small replicas of things. I have skin problems and at various points I've had teeth problems as well (which are now fixed). I wouldn't really call myself pretty by any means, though I can look professional and act attractive. I do have long brown hair which is a little wavy toward the ends, and I think it looks awesome even with the sprinkled gray hairs.
My cousin is finishing up a professional degree which will allow her to work in a very well-paid field. I have a bachelor's and work at a job that requires a high school diploma, and while I make enough to pay the bills, she'll make more than me in her first year out of school.
I have a very nice boyfriend who is a stay at home dad and a kickass homemaker. We're not married and likely never will be. She has a boyfriend who is an ambitious student working on a professional career of his own. His parents are also fairly well-off.
Which leads to this: His parents flew the six of them (his parents, her parents, my cousin, her boyfriend) to Hawaii for a week. So, on her birthday, she was standing on the beach, in Hawaii, while her boyfriend presented her with a tremendously nice diamond and begged her to marry him.
She took a picture of the ring on her iPhone and immediately posted it to Facebook with the news. Did I mention that I have a cell phone and all you can do on it is make phone calls?
So, I allowed myself 5 minutes of the following:
99%: SQUEE! How awesome for her!
1%: I hope she gets bitten by sand fleas, develops hives, and itches all night.
But after that 5 minute bout of liver-devouring jealousy, I got over it, by remembering that when I got married at the age of 20, all my grandparents were there. They got to know my husband, and gave us advice, and passed along things to us with instructions and hints and ideas. And they got to know me as an adult, and a lot of who I am was shaped by my grandparents and their love for me. My last grandfather passed away last month, so I had 15 years as an adult with grandparents.
My cousin, on the other hand, is 22 and out of grandparents. They’ll never meet her guy or watch her get married, or give her a million little pieces of advice. And he could be the most awesome guy in the whole world (and I really do hope he is!) but she’s still missed out on some things I’ve had, just like I’m missing out on some things she’s had.
And it all comes out in the end, you know? Some people are rich in things, and some are rich in love, and some are rich in both, but everybody’s missing a little something, no matter how perfect it looks from the outside.
