by Julianna Squicciarini

As life flashes by, and we grow older, distances seem to shorten.  For instance, I always used to think (this was back when I was about 7) that a 30-minute drive was something for which I needed to pack a car activity.  Nowadays, I find myself perfectly willing to drive 2.5 hours to Biltmore every month without fail.  With age comes wisdom – and longer trips.

All that to say that yesterday was our dear Cousin Joel’s 17th birthday.  Non sequitor?  Not quite.  Our Aunt Lynn, Joel’s mom, lives in York, SC.  This is an hour, almost to the minute, away from us.  However, we very happily invited ourselves over (perfectly acceptable because we came bearing gifts) and drove down there yesterday.  We brought brunch to share, and it seemed to have been much appreciated :-)

For those of you who have not yet had the privilege of meeting Joel, he is apparently brilliant – has already graduated from high school – LAST YEAR (that was before me, if you didn’t know), has a pretty good job, is in college, and has loads of friends (this shows his amiable character).

He is reportedly 6′3″, and closes doors from the top, instead of with the doorknob.  He also survived an accidental swallowing of a masonry charge.  :-D

We don’t get to see him very often, because of his horrifically busy schedule.  Every minute is packed with activities, and it is hard to fit in time with Charlotte Cousins, like ourselves.  That’s why this birthday marked an important event: we got to spend about 2 hours with Cousin Joel and Aunt Lynn, on his birthday!  It was a great opportunity to catch up with both of them, and find out new things that are going on.

Happy Birthday once again, Joel!  May G-d bless you abundantly in the coming year.  We wish you all the best!