Your cousin’s old clothes came with a message: someone in the family was thinking about you.

Hand-me-downs are a bag of clothes and also a piece of information. Somebody sorted through what no longer fit, thought about your size, kept the good things back rather than throwing them out, and arranged for them to reach you. The sorting is the part that means something, and it is invisible once the bag arrives.

Say thank you to the person who did the sorting rather than only to whoever handed it over. Then do your half: as things stop fitting you, put them aside for whoever is next. Keeping the chain going is cheaper and more useful than any single gift.