Journal #9 Power of Pictures

One of my favorite pictures of all time is one me and my cousin Anthony at my sister Marcella’s baptism back in 1994.  We were both 3 years old at the time and we were dressed in the most outrageously hideous clothes ever!  I had bows all over me and he was draped in who-knows-what with gold chain crosses all over him.  Looking at the picture now makes me laugh for hours.  We were adorable but our mothers were crazy no doubt.  In this picture we were sitting in one of the pews before the ceremony and we looked exactly alike.  It was really freaky because out clothes were the same colors, white, black and red, our faces looked the same and our hair was even cut in the same mushroom-cut type style.  Looking at this picture, you’d think that we were twins.  The only thing is, he’s my cousin and about 7 months older than me. We’re related on our dad’s side but the funny thing is that we both look like our fathers.  This is my favorite picture because it reminds me about the closeness that my cousin and I share with each other.  I don’t really know a lot of people who consider their cousins their best friend or like a sister/brother to them.  Many of my friends don’t talk to their cousins, hardly ever see them, and some even can’t even stand them.  I think it’s because our parents always hung out and brought us along so we could play.  Since birth I’ve considered Anthony as my older brother, even though I’m definitely more mature and responsible.  That picture of us at the baptism shows how much we’ve grown up but still love each other unconditionally and would rather hang out with the other than with our own siblings.  We’ve established this type of bond that can’t be broken and that picture of us when we were 3, the one of me clinging to his neck for dear life with the goofiest grin on, the one of him smiling because there’s no one he loves to spend time with more, shows how much we need each other.