July 24 - Cousins Day

The children of our parent's siblings - the cousins. Today is set aside to celebrate your cousins, and in fact yourself. If you have cousins, then you're a cousin too! Those in larger families can have many cousins and sometimes it can be confusing figuring out exactly what your relationship to them is. How many times have you been confronted with "first cousins once removed" and wondered just how that works? Probably quite a few times! Here's an easy way to figure it all out. If you and your relative in question both share the same grandparent, you're first cousins. If your grandparent is your relative's great grandparent, then you're first cousins once removed. If both of you share the same great grandparents then you have the distinction of being second cousins. And so on down the line. No matter how many times you may be "removed", cousins are often the closest to us in age and are the ones with whom we can commiserate during family functions. So today is a perfect time to give your cousin a call or send them an email and let them know just how much you appreciate them.