family discoveries

so my cousin was over for a few days. she is, in fact, my father's cousin's daughter. we'd met 3-4 times in my life, but only ever for a couple of hours or so, and mostly with other people around. so really, we had no connection. that said, when she emailed to say she'd be in town for a conference for a few days and she was staying in a hotel not far from me, i said she should stay with me. she was worried she'd put me out and even offered to stay with me only half the time, in case it was too much, but although i didn't really know her, she's family so i declined. and that was a great decision.

it turns out we get on great. we're both the first of two sisters and we are quite similar in many ways. and we actually went straight for the heavy stuff. it's exhausting, talking so openly about things you'd rather not discuss, but i think we both felt safe doing it. there was stuff she can't discuss with her family and stuff i ended up telling her because she asked and wouldn't take no for an answer. we talked and time flew by and it was suddenly past my bedtime, so i spent most of the week in a zombie-like state. but it was great and we now do have a connection, which i'm really happy about.