Identical cousins…

novembersnowWell, first of all, can I just I’m sorry if I told anyone that I thought the winter storm was just hype. I KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. I AM A LIFE-LONG MICHIGANDER. I AM A YOOPER! I KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. I KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. I KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. JEEBUS!

We had a snowstorm today. The first snow of the season here and it is a doozy. But before all of that, or maybe when it was just starting, I had a chance to meet with the cousin I probably know the least, which is a shame because we look a LOT alike. Last weekend, she changed her fb profile pic and, when I saw the notification, my first thought was something like, “I didn’t change my profile pic!” I am one of 11 cousins on the Fin side and one of 9 on the Mac side. I feel fortunate that I knew each and every one of those cousins as I was growing up. We share some family resemblances but we mostly don’t look much like each other.

I knew the cousin of this morning’s meeting when we were children but I didn’t know her well. Actually, I was around shortly after her birth. The Comm and I flew down to The Planet Ann Arbor to help out with the new baby. About all I remember about that trip is that the windows on the airplane were round on the way down and square on the way back. Something like that. She doesn’t remember anything about me then because she was a newborn baby. We have met at a few family events over the years but I am such a wallflower at parties that I have never really connected with her. But wow, do we look alike.

Enter facebook… We met at the Arborland Starbucks this morning. When I pulled the Ninja into a parking spot just outside of Starbucks, I saw her sitting right there inside and she saw me and so we waved “I know you”. And then we talked. And talked and talked and the GG was there too and it was all so much fun and then we stopped off at my aunt and uncle’s house (her parents) with her and we all talked some more and then the GG and I schlepped (slowly as the roads deteriorated) back over to our side of town with promises to include my identical cousin on our next trip to the PAC Northwest, whenever that may be… Not only do we look a lot alike, I think we think a lot alike too. So much love. Same sense of humor and I *think* similar outlooks on life, etc.

After that, the GG and I walked downtown (in the snow) to the Grizzly Peak for lunch. A young patron and his partner noticed the GG’s North Country Trail patch on his backpack and was brave enough to engage us in conversation about the NCT, etc. So much fun.

Home and eventually a walk over to the Plum Market for a few grokkeries. The pic is what the N. Maple / Dexter intersection looked like. I was on foot. Multiple Plum Market folks asked me to take care. I told them that I had walked and I wished them all a good drive home.

One Response to “Identical cousins…”

  1. Margaret Says:

    That sounds like a great and fascinating time, except for the bad weather. I want a photo of the cousin!! 🙂 If you come to the PacNW and don’t see me, I will be very upset. I would even brave the dreaded Seattle traffic!