It came, it saw, it conquered, and before any of us knew it, Christmas was gone faster than a Keanu Reeves movie in theaters. But this year, Christmas didn't feel the same. As some of you may or may not know, my dad is currently serving a six-week tour in Iraq, which made this year's holiday season kinda... well, blah. I hardly ever ever see my dad since he's always working and my work and school schedules always seem to clash with my family's schedules. But now that I'm not working and am always home, it's weird seeing everyone in my family at various points in the day on a daily basis. Everyone, but my dad. We didn't even read the Nativity Story on Christmas Eve which is something my dad has always done, ever since I can remember. He should be back within a couple of weeks, but until then, life at home is kinda...well, blah.On a lighter side, even though I may not have had a dad for Christmas, I did get two new step-cousins! A while back, I mentioned that my cousin Karina from San Diego had found her biological father, a policeman, who was standing on the same corner as her, waiting for the light to turn green. I don't know if it was fate that they met, but it was a prayer answered. All her life Karina had wanted brothers. I think that's why she always loved me and my brothers the most out of anyone in our family. Her mother did eventually marry someone, a lawyer from Brooklyn, who's financial advice was as bad as his pleather clothes, but all Karina got out of that marriage was a baby sister. Her mom, on the other hand, got a divorce. So, the dream of having brothers passed and life went on. Until her dad introduced her to his two sons.
She had brothers now! Marc, 23 and Raymond, 22. Raymond was older than Karina by just two months and as it turns out, they all grew up within 15-20 minutes of each other, never realizing it. Raymond and Karina attended rival high schools, so they saw each other at football games and bonfire beach parties, but never actually met. Now, they were hanging out every weekend, bonding and forging a relationship, trying to piece together parts of their family puzzle. It hasn't been a pretty puzzle (they found out, they may have a sister in Florida who looks like Karina), but it's their family puzzle.
Marc and Raymond came down this past weekend with Karina and it was fun hanging out with them, eating chicken wings, watching football games, getting drunk and going to the casinos. I never had guy cousins I could do that with. The only guy cousins I have that are close to my age live in Washington, but I haven't seen them in over 10 years. And even when I did see them, they were no fun, since they are really narcissistic and bragged about how they were gonna be the next hot model/movie star/singer, despite their lack of height, severe acne and tone-deaf ears. So, having Marc and Raymond around for a couple of days was fun, and it actually made time go by faster and helped me forget my dad was somewhere far away in a whole other world. Who knew family was the answer to your problems? Usually, they seem to be the problem, that I'm looking for an answer to. What a nice change.
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