Cuz-Wife, Cuz-Huz
Some people enter our lives because they have to. Others arrive because The Universe quietly decides our paths should overlap for a while.
My cousin Angie is one of those people. Technically, she's my first cousin once removed. Her mother and my maternal grandmother were sisters. Family trees have a funny way of making relationships sound more distant than they actually feel.
When Angie moved back to East Texas, something simple happened. We became cousin buddies. Before long, we found ourselves making trips together. Some were little drives into town. Others became adventures to places like Broken Bow and Corpus Christi. One year, we even traveled to Ruidoso together.
I eventually realized the destination was never the best part.
It was the conversations between destinations.
One afternoon, we stopped at one of those little roadside fruit and vegetable stands between Sulphur Springs and Yantis. Angie wandered over to admire a few crape myrtle trees while I waited nearby.
The gentleman running the stand smiled at me and said, "You have yourself a purdy wife."
I laughed and replied, "Oh, no... she's my cousin."
We climbed back into my truck and headed home. Several miles later, it suddenly dawned on me.
I looked over at Angie and said, "You know... I told that guy you were my cousin. But I never actually told him you weren't my wife."
She looked at me for a second.
Then we both burst into laughter.
From that day forward, we became "Cuz-Wife" and "Cuz-Huz."
It's one of those inside jokes that probably makes no sense to anyone else. But every time one of us says it, we're instantly reminded of that little roadside stand and a misunderstanding that somehow became part of our story.
Humor has a way of doing that. It takes an ordinary moment and quietly transforms it into a memory you'll carry for years.
But this letter isn't really about a funny nickname.
It's about gratitude.
Angie has walked beside me through some important chapters of my life. She has been an ally, someone who has accepted me exactly as I am, and someone who has never made me feel like I had to explain myself. We've shared conversations that mattered, adventures that I'll always remember, and countless ordinary moments that became extraordinary simply because they were shared.
I've come to believe The Universe has a remarkable way of placing people in our lives exactly when we need them.
Sometimes they arrive as strangers.
Sometimes they become friends.
And sometimes…they've been family all along.
I don't think The Universe measures relationships by branches on a family tree. I think it measures them by the miles traveled together, the laughter shared along the way, and the willingness to simply show up for one another.
Angie has been one of those gifts in my life.
An ally.
A travel companion.
A fellow adventurer.
Family in every sense of the word.
I'm grateful that, somewhere along the road, The Universe decided our journeys should overlap.
Love you, Cuz-Wife.
Thank you for walking beside me.
