Cousins

A wise person once said that our cousins are our first best friends.

I come from a large family on my mom’s side and a very small family on my dad’s side. On my dad’s side I had no cousins as he was an only child. On my mom’s side I had ten cousins. My mom had two brothers and three sisters.

My cousins came in various groupings. There were the older cousins, those around the same age as my older brothers and sister. I did not know them very well. I know that one was in the Navy and I remember seeing some of his Navy memorabilia and being very impressed. Other than that, that group did not have much of an effect on my life.

The second group was four cousins who were about eight years older than I .  They are the ones I looked up to. When I was a kid they were in high school. They always seemed so cool to me. Lying around the house listening to Righteous Brothers records.  One of these cousins, when I was about eight years old, had me convinced that Slatington’s infamous Bedbug Cave was filled with fire breathing monsters. Of course I had to believe him. He was one of the cousin I looked up to. Good times. Good times.  I haven’t seen this cousin, Larry Andreas, in about forty years. A claim to fame in this group. My cousin Sharon Burke was once on Password!

I was a member of the final group of cousins. We were all within five years of each other and maybe one year were all in Slatington High School at the same time. Jim Becker was the oldest. He was both a cousin and a neighbor so I spent a lot of time with him. He was three years older and he was the one who introduced me to my first porn mags! I can also remember, when I was maybe 13, a rousing game of strip poker with him and two Dowell Street girls. Don’t worry, we never got past shoelaces!

My fondest memories are of the final two cousins, Terry and Mike Burke, one older and one younger that I am.  I remember sleepovers at their house. I remember Terry’s collection of foot high monsters like Frankenstein and the Werewolf.  My favorite memory is of Friday nights in the early 60’s. His mom and my mom would go shopping in Out Town Slatington for a few hours.  Terry and Mike and I would go in my bedroom and make believe we were the Beatles. I played air guitar as Paul. Mike played air guitar as John. Terry rocked out as Ringo on the air drums. We didn’t have a George.  We had a great time and our favorite song to air play was “From Me To You”.

But, we grow up, we move, we change.  Terry and Mike are the only ones I am in contact with and that mostly on Facebook. Jim, I haven’t seen in 48 years. I heard at one time that he was a park ranger at Delaware Water Gap, but by now must surely be retired.

It’s sad that we can’t keep relationships going throughout our lives. I suppose that does happen on occasion. But cousins are special. They are blood.  I remember my dad telling me that when he was a teen he was in love with his cousin Blanche and was devastated to find that they could not marry.

So raise a glass to cousins everywhere, our first best friends.  Maybe this rainy day is a good day to reach out.

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