I just came back from my trip to India. I had visited for my cousin’s wedding. Despite the opposite time zones, I was not jet-lagged when I got back. I was jet-lagged a good two days later. The highlight of my trip was definitely my two youngest cousins.
My two youngest cousins were born to my dad’s brother. He had them pretty late and adores them to pieces. The oldest is a boy who is five years old and the youngest is a girl and she’s three years old. The entire time I was there, they wouldn’t leave me alone. They were constantly around me and wanted to be near me (probably because there was no one interesting in the house). They were sometimes annoying to handle, but their cuteness made up for it.
At the airport, when we were going to fly back home to Chicago, I started crying because I don’t see them often enough. It was hard to imagine we’d see each other soon. The oldest was weirded out. He didn’t understand why I was crying or why I was so upset. He thought I didn’t like Chicago and was upset to go back home. It was adorable. Of course, at the moment, he didn’t say anything but I found out later from his mom that he was so confused.
The first time they called after we got home, he wanted to talk to me, but I wasn’t home because I was at school. My mom informed me but I didn’t have the chance to call them back. That night, my mom got about three calls at 3 am; it was my cousin wanting to talk to me. I found it endearing that he didn’t know the time difference. I found it more endearing that he wanted to talk to me. I don’t know what we’d talk about but just the fact that he wanted to with me was so flattering.
The crazy thing is, he looks exactly like my brother did when he was younger. The first moment I saw my little cousin, he reminded me of my brother to the point where it felt like I was nine years old again and my younger 5-year-old brother was right there with me. Of course, they weren’t identical, but eerily similar, it was insane.
I don’t know when I’ll talk to him next, or when I’ll see him next, or even if he’ll remember me by then, but the entire trip just opened up this new person to me and my heart just grew bigger for another person to love.