Postcards from Far Away

Well, my cousin (Ryan) and Jill are getting married in sunny California today, and I just got really sad about not being able to be there to celebrate with them. :( Ryan and his sister, Alyssa, are like siblings to me. Our families are really small, and without them, we wouldn’t really have much of a family. I was the MOH in Alyssa’s wedding; my mom was the MOH in my aunt’s wedding.

I was raised with them. My aunt and uncle are like second parents, and when my family was in Maryland last summer with my sister, they took care of me. I stayed at their house for a week, and it was a great time. Jill and Ryan actually happened to be home visiting from CA then, too, so I got to spend a lot of time with them, and I got to know Jill, and I’m so glad that she’s joining our family today.

If the wedding had been one week later, I could have been there with them. I wouldn’t have had to take exams, and I wouldn’t have had to work. *sigh*

This is part of the trade off for living my dream in Germany: missing important things at home.

They aren’t my “real,” blood cousins, but that just doesn’t matter, and I couldn’t love them any more than I do.

I’m sending my love to them today because I can’t be there in person.