The Day I Was Told I Couldn't Marry My Cousin

So no, in case you're wondering, let us just clarify, I was like 5 years old and under the impression marriage was supposed to be with someone you love and can stand to be around for long periods of time. My cousin, at the time, fit that description perfectly.

I remember getting up at the dinner table, really excited about my annoucement. I can't quite tell you what preceded this or what possessed me to make this a dinner-time matter. Like I said, I was 5.

I stood up, looked at my whole family. Well, not my whole family. If we really wanted to get into it, my family is HUGE and it would be a great feat indeed to have the WHOLE family at one table. They would probably have to have that table specially made, but we'll save that one for "The Day I Realized My Family Could Form a Small Country" chapter.

Anyway, I stood up, looked at some of my whole family, and announced that I would be marrying my cousin. To which the family looked at me and burst into laughter. I was a very frustrated little girl and did not, no, could not understand why my family was laughing at my declaration. I thought I had it all figured out. I wasn't going to have to worry about finding "Mr. Right", I was just going to marry my cousin who I got along with great and was able to boss around quite decently. My family quickly crushed my hopes and dreams of having a worry-free (well, at least in that area of my life) future. They informed me that as my cousin, he and I would be unable to get married. It is against the law. And something about incest.