What's in a title anyway?

When I was younger, the ongoing family joke quote was that I wasn't rich, but I was rich in aunts. I still am, but I'm also rich in cousins. I'm the youngest of my line of first cousins on my mom's side. I'm the oldest on my dad's. In total, I have well... a lot of cousins. 11 first cousins to be exact. A lot of them have their own children. Then we factor in cousins like Deets. We're lookin' at a lot of cousins here. (The invitation list for my wedding is quite long because of it. I'm grateful!) On several occasions, we've tried to explain the concept of 1st cousins, second cousins, third cousins to others. It's a really tricky concept that I still don't fully understand to this day. We've just defaulted to saying "cousin" to define members of our family... and the "family" we've picked up along the way. This concept of "given" titles has been extended throughout our family tree. I have aunts and uncles that aren't really aunts and uncles (they're close family friends though!). I myself am an "aunt", but bare not blood relation to any of the children who address me as such. Not everyone is rich in cousins, or aunts, or family in general. Not everyone has healthy relationships with those people. I'm blessed to say that I know a lot of my mom's side of the family; beyond the immediate of my dad's side, it's a bit fuzzy. Whether you're rich in family or not, we want to welcome you into our safe space here. A place where we can journey together, learn together, laugh together, and cry together too. A place where you can be yourself, even if you can't safely do so in the offline world. Hello, cousin. ~L