97) My Cousin's Wedding

We are second cousins, for the reason that, our mothers are first cousins.

​I barely see my cousin. We live far away from each other. I live in the Bay Area, while she lives in Canada.

She is mysterious. I am on social media, while she is not. (She keeps her life private. That is fine.)

(My first cousin, Mark, flew with me to Canada. Our mothers are siblings.)

The wedding happened last Saturday. As Mark and I walked to the church, Uncle stopped us. (The bride's father.) We greeted him a bit. I saw my cousin (the bride) waving at us inside limo car.

After the wedding ceremony, I was nervous to approach my cousins. (Again, I hardly see them. Also, I am their 2nd cousin.)

Pictures were being taken. Mark begged me for a group photo with them. I walked over there, while Mark was trailing me. I slowly walked into the group photo. I stood on the back row. Apparently, I did not see Mark. (He was stopped by one of the relatives.)

I am sweating, since I realized that I walked too early on their group photo. Yes, I was nervous. (Again, I hardly see my cousins.) Social anxiety was hitting me. (I felt like a high school kid, who is trying to fit in.)

I told a few of my cousins about my nervousness. One said, "You are family, man!"

Wedding reception happened later that day. Mark and I were assigned a table with single ladies.

(I believed that I had a connection with my seat mate. A day later, she told me, "I appreciate this. However, I don't see this going anywhere. No chemistry for me. Sorry." I just can't tell. This always happens to me. Patience is the key. I cannot force the issue. I cannot control the outcome. Respect the lady. The past is remembered. Live in the moment. The future is in me.)

The bride's sister gave a toast to her sister. Throughout her toast, she was in tears. (I had a flashback with the great memories I had with my sister.) I laughed when she said, "When we were growing up together, my dynamic duo was Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, while hers was Brian Littrell and Nick Carter.

Lastly, the bride's father gave a toast to his daughter. He said, "I am giving my daughter's life away to another man." (One of the ladies in my table told me, "I always saw her and her father everyday at mass together.") It was heart-warming. I almost cried in tears.

​Halfway through the reception, our cousin offered me and Mark a shot of Crown Royal.

When reception was close to ending, Mark and I were invited for a group photo with our cousins.

On the next day, our cousin invited us for dinner. Mark already flew back home. I already made plans to visit my Uncle in Squamish.

What matters is I am related to my cousins. Even though we hardly see each other, we are related by blood. Most importantly, we respect each other. (I am glad that I wrote about this blog post, so I can remember.)