A Fashion Show

When asked if I wanted to attend my cousin's 8th grade Fashion Show, I was extremely excited. I knew I had to intern until 4:30pm, but I knew if I rushed home, I'd be able to make it by 6:00pm. Now I was excited because my cousin's seem to just ignore big events in their life, and don't seem to really invite any family. Okay, maybe they don't ignore them, but it just slips their mind that their family would be interested in attending. It is upsetting to say the least, so when I got this invitation, my mother and I said yes! It turned out my older cousin was invited as well, so we had a great time sitting there and catching up.

It turned out there was a tricky tray and although my mom and I didn't win anything - I had a glass of wine, and her a mixed drink and we enjoyed the night out together, bonding with our family. Tricky trays get a wee bit boring when you don't win anything though, and so we sat there watching the other tables winning the great items, and soon it became dull. We wanted to see my cousin walk out on that stage in her formal and casual wear, shining with that smile on her face, and after dinner, when we saw her, I couldn't believe it.

She looked incredibly beautiful. I'm not just saying this because she's my cousin either. She looked perfect, with her dress and smile so large, it made you smile. In fact, just looking at the picture now, I'm smiling. You can't tell me you aren't either!

Dessert came before they came back out for casual wear, but at that point I just wanted to see my cousin up there on the platform again. Seriously. I know it may be shocking that I didn't want dessert, no matter how good it looked, because I mean really who am I to turn down dessert? Okay, maybe I had the cheesecake, but then I forgot about all of the rest as the 8th graders were walking down the aisle. I kept looking at the brochure, waiting for my cousin's name to be called, and when it was, I was in awe again. The colors she was wearing were incredible together, and I must admit I don't think I would have been able to pull off yellow pants, but she did!

I have to say I am so proud of her for all she has accomplished, and the fact that she's graduating 8th grade, and I'm graduating college in just one month, not even - scares me. It made me think how fast time really does fly. I remember my cousins when they were born, crawling around, crying because they didn't want to do their homework, playing... just being kids - and know they're far from that! I just couldn't believe my eyes. My cousins had grown up, and I just didn't want to believe it. From that point forward, I made it a point to talk to my cousins more often, and see them more often as well. I can't believe I had been so wrapped up in my own world, that I forgot they were growing up too. I always envisioned myself as the cool cousin, who would drive them around and be there whenever they needed me, but I wasn't that cool cousin. They didn't call or hang out as often as I would have liked, but neither did I. I vowed from that day forth that I would try and spend as much time as I could, and see them as often as I could - because I wanted to have the type of relationship with my cousins that my mom had with her cousins, and so far I think it's going better than expected. I hope it continues to move forward, in a positive manner.