My cousin got married this weekend. Biologically, she’s my cousin but truly, she is my sister in every sense of the word. More than that, she is my person.

We are incredibly huge Grey’s Anatomy fans, my cousin and I. She took to calling me her person before I got to that episode on Netflix a few years ago. I could not for the life of me figure out why she began referring to me as “person” instead of Jo, Leggz, or even Mom as was our normal. Then I saw it: the episode.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t familiar with the show, I’m betting you can relate to the concept of “your person.”

You and your person are always on the same team, even if it means you have to do something you really don’t want to do. Even if you’re incredibly busy, you’ll make the time to check in with each other – even if it means you sit with them while they work. They’ll dance with you when no one else will, and when the day is just too much, they’ll lay down with you. They’ll listen to you complain about your life, and they will have your back. They’ll listen to you at your craziest moments and tell you what you NEED to hear, even if it isn’t what you WANT to hear. You act like a married couple because when you are together, you are always together and you talk about growing old together. You understand each other’s logic, even if it makes zero sense because you have your own language and sometimes you don’t even need to say anything, you can just make a face and they can read you word for word. On your worst days, they’ll hold you. You know you can always share secrets because they will keep them; they are your safe spot. And, you never have to worry about losing them because they’ll always be “your person.”

This is the epitome of my relationship with my sister/cousin. Of course,our relationship has changed and grown with us over the years. I’ve seen her grow from a skin and bones preteen to a strong, beautiful woman who will open her arms to children offering them love, support and security in a crazy world, but use those same arms to fight off the crazies which threaten the very security she offers those she loves.

Events of the weekend got me to thinking how very blessed I am to not only have her as my person, but also to have my own bevy of people figuratively around me each and every day – figuratively only because many of them are miles away, but I know they are “there” for me at a moment’s notice. This group has seen me and my family through the mountains and valleys of life and I simply could not be more blessed by them – everything from marriage, birth and death of babies, raising our children through the teen years (God bless my people!), and not the least of which, Ben’s autism diagnosis and subsequent therapies. We simply could not have come through all that diagnosis entails without our people praying for us, encouraging us, and simply “being there.”

Thank you for being our family, for having our backs, understanding our (okay my) ramblings, even when it made zero sense. Thank you for being our people.