Believe it or not, I am quite at a loss for what to write for this post. I considered writing about Cuzzin Heather, but I've covered her quite a few times before. Then I got the bright idea to write about a group of cousins I have discovered through the wonder of AncestryDNA. While I'm fairly certain they have a Pearson connection, I have no idea what it is. Alas, I have already written about them as well. So, since I have done my best to maintain only Pearson (or Pearson-related) stories for this year's #52Ancestors, I'm just going to write about ALL my cousins.
I was lucky to grow up with my cousins all around me. I don't have a ton of them, but I spent my earliest years hanging out with the cousins from my dad's side. One of my favorite memories with them is of my uncle making breakfast for all of us. We were living in Australia at the time, and Australia is known for a spread called vegemite. It's similar to, but not the same as, England's marmite. For those who don't know what either of those are, they are dark, salty spreads frequently applied to toast. My cousin, Tracy, hated vegemite. (I imagine she still does, but she's not likely to encounter it here.) However, she really enjoyed "well done" toast. Uncle Alan, joker that he was, managed to slather her toast with vegemite in such a way that it just looked like burnt bread. I don't remember if she took a bite before realizing it, or if the texture was a giveaway, but I do remember that she was MAD. Uncle Alan just laughed.
Later on, Tracy was my babysitter. She's 9 years older than me, so in my eyes, she knew everything. She told me all about kissing boys. 😂 Her sister, Brandy, is closer to me in age. She recalls that I was a spoiled child. I can neither confirm nor deny this report, but Brandy, if you're reading this, I will concede that you are probably right. Brandy is my source for all things Palermo and Aloisio (a line I'm considering writing about for next year's 52Ancestors) because she seems to enjoy being the repository for all my Grandma Rose's stories. Tracy and Brandy's brother, Michael - the middle child of the cousins on my dad's side, stayed in Australia when the girls moved back to the States. When Tracy got married, he surprised her by coming to the wedding. I don't think I've ever seen a happier bride.
On my mom's side (Pearsons), I have four more cousins (1st cousins, at any rate). Adam is the closest to me in age at just a year older. As such, we spent a lot of time together when we were just tots. I don't remember it, but my mom likes to tell the story of how Adam punched me, and my dad pulled him aside to have a "man-to-man" chat. Adam's sister, Bonnie, came along in 1985, but they were no longer living in the same area as my family by that time. When I was getting ready to graduate from high school, I went out to visit them in Virginia. We had a couple of enjoyable days together, but on the morning of my departure, Adam didn't get up to say goodbye...because, that's just what cousins do? He and I are both married with daughters now, but I still mention this instance of rudeness to him from time to time.
My other two first cousins are significantly younger than me because my Aunt Jenny is significantly younger than my mom. In reality, they are more like younger siblings. I have a picture of me holding William right after he was born. I was in high school. I also have a picture of Christian holding my daughter not long after she was born. I think he was probably in junior high at the time.
That's the beauty of cousins. They are kind of like built-in friends when you're young, and if you're lucky, they're still your friends when you get older.
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