Siblings

I have always loved the English language. As a citizen of a multilingual world, I' ve always had a healthy appreciation for all languages. But while I love the way French rolls off your tongue and the way German commands a presence, English has always been my favourite. I love that it has no real parallel in the way that, say, Italian has a parallel in Spanish. I love that while the word "love" might seem unwieldly compared to the words "amour" or "amor", it is imbued with its own special beauty. I love that English is spoken in many different ways, in a myriad of different dialects and accents, all over the world.
This summer when I spent time with family in Serbia, I had to put my love for English aside and try my hand at Serbian, the language of the country. It's the mother tongue of pretty much everyone in my family, but I've never been too impressed with it. I never found it to be a pretty or interesting language; it's never entranced me the way English has.
But this summer, I found something absolutely beautiful in the Serbian language. Something that I'm fairly certain is unique and specific to Serbian (and its sister languages, Croatian and Bosnian). In Serbian, there is no word for "cousin." If you have a male cousin, he is referred to as your brother. A female cousin is your sister. After learning this, I wished that I could eliminate the word "cousin" from all languages, English included. Because who is the person with whom you share your thoughts and hopes and fears, whose family is your family, whose blood is your blood, if not your brother or sister? They are the person - the people - who see you not only as friends, but as parts of themselves. They are the people with whom you share experiences, but also histories, in a way that you can never share a history with a friend. They are the people you love and cherish unconditionally. You don't need to impress them, and you don't expect them to impress you, because they are your family, and you cannot divorce or ditch your family.
My cousins live halfway around the world. I don't see them every day like I see my friends or my immediate family. But they are my siblings.
I miss my brother and sisters.