There’s a certain kind of grief that hits differently—the grief of losing a cousin. It’s not just losing a relative. It’s losing a piece of your childhood, a lifelong friend, a shared history that no one else quite understands.
Cousins are the first best friends many of us have. They’re the ones we shared summer vacations with, snuck snacks with at family gatherings, and laughed with during long car rides. They’re the ones who knew all the family drama, the inside jokes, the silly nicknames, and the awkward teenage years. A cousin isn’t just family—they’re the person who knew your roots and still chose to grow beside you.
So when that bond is broken by loss, it leaves a hollow silence in its place. The texts go unanswered. The calls never come. You scroll through old photos, hearing their laugh in your head but knowing it’s now only a memory.
For me, the loss of my cousin was like a thread being pulled loose from the fabric of my life. We didn’t talk every day, but when we did, it was like no time had passed. We had different lives in different states, but we were always connected—by blood, by love, by stories only we knew. Now that connection feels frayed, hanging there with no one on the other end.
What hurts the most is not just their absence, but the weight of all the things left unsaid—the memories we’ll never get to make, the milestones they won’t be here for. The birthdays, holidays, and reunions now carry a quiet ache. They should be here. Laughing. Living. Loving.
Grief is a strange companion. It shows up in the most unexpected places—in a favorite song, an old inside joke, or a random memory that suddenly brings tears. And yet, in the middle of the heartache, I’m reminded of the gift of having loved someone deeply enough that their absence is this loud.
To anyone who has lost a cousin and feels that irreplaceable gap: you are not alone. It’s okay to mourn not just the person, but the connection—the lifelong bond that shaped who you are.
May we hold onto the laughter, the stories, and the love. May we find comfort in knowing that even though they’re gone from this world, they’ll always live on in the moments we shared and the legacy they leave behind.
And may we always remember: cousins are family by blood, but also by heart—and that’s a connection no distance, no time, not even death, can truly erase.
