Cousins are the friends you didn’t choose who somehow end up knowing you best. Call one.

Cousins arrive without being chosen, which makes the relationship unlike any other. There is no decision behind it, no breakup available and often no upkeep at all, and yet they tend to know the family you come from in a way friends never will. Shared relatives mean shared context you never have to explain. Distance can easily hide how much of that is still sitting there.

Call one this week instead of waiting for a family event. Ask about something ordinary rather than the family news. These relationships run almost entirely on whoever is willing to make the first call.