Cousin Chris

My cousin Chris and I have a good relationship. We are about 12 years apart, so our relationship didn't really start until I was at least in the sixth grade because I was too worried about children things and he was too worried about teenage things.

I identify the most with him out of all of my cousins. He and I are both very driven and end up doing homework over the long breaks when the family gets together. The rest of the cousins make fun of us, but hey, they can do their homework super late at the last possible moment. I don't care.

That being said, I haven't seen him in two years. (See he moved to Washington) Sure, there is Facebook, but he's not really one to go on often, nor am I really. There is also Skype, and we've only done that maybe twice.

So, at the beginning of the school year I devised a plan which was dubbed acceptable by Rudy, Chris's younger brother.

While cleaning out his mom's (Nancy's) house I found a good number of postcards from really random places. And this is the least random thing we found in her house. That lady has moved so many times, but this time Mom put her foot down and the two of them (over the course of 3 weekends) cleaned her whole house. That was a project.

It became a thing to call for me when a postcard was discovered and at the end of the house cleaning I had a good pile of odd postcards. While the pile was forming so too was an idea in my head.

I decided to smoke Chris out of his 'hole' in Washington by sending him a postcard each week. I figured this worked with Tekla (to an extent) so why not with Chris.

On Friday I received a package in the mail from Chris. It wasn't a huge surprise because I had talked on the phone with Chris a few times since I had started my project and I had gotten the word from Grandma and Nancy that he loved the postcards, but it was still fun to have solid evidence that Chris has seen the postcards.

In the package was the new Brian Selznick (if this name rings no bells google him!) book titled: Wonderstruck, a puzzle postcard, and a note from Chris.

Plus a poem, which I'll end with.

A Note From a Friend

-H. Hensher

When you are weary and sick

at the close of the day,

And things don't seem

to be going your way

When even your patience

seems near the end

What a wonderful lift

that note from a friend

With a troubled heart

and a heavy load

Perhaps he, too, may have

travled the road,

And you find real comfort

in the end

As you read the lines

in a note from a friend.

What a welcome, the few

words of cheer

Received from this friend

you hold dear

No troubles so great

God and time cannot mend

After you've read this note

from a Friend.