Electoral College vote a big step to move past election

126125914_web1_Andrew-Chew---The-Institute

Stimulus checks had big impact locally

For an only child like me, the closest I have to siblings are cousins.
				Yes, cousins, those blood relatives who, at first, you aren&rsquo;t quite sure about, but after a while, you realize just how great they are.
				At least that has been my experience.
				I really do have great cousins. We are a somewhat large group who, for the most part, only see each other during the best or worst of times &mdash; graduations, holidays, weddings and, sadly, funerals.
				But there are some cousins who get together more often.
				I have been very fortunate to have several of these cousins. I will identify them by first name only &mdash; Cousin Claire, Cousin Charles, Cousin Mary, Cousin Barbara, Cousin-in-law Donna, to name a few.
				There are several other cousins that I rarely see or talk to and several more who have passed away. Each cousin evokes memories of childhood, growing up and family events.
				I sincerely cherish the time I get to spend with my cousins. Especially around holidays. These are spent with my cousins on my mother&rsquo;s side of the family. Mom had eight siblings and they had many children &mdash; my cousins. On dad&rsquo;s side, he had a brother and a sister, but only one first cousin, Cousin Jimmy, who has passed on.
				My dad had a cousin who was like a brother to him &mdash; Cousin Al, or as we called him, Big Al, not because of him being large in stature, but that he had a son named Al, or, you guessed it, Little Al.
				Let me recap some of my greatest memories of my cousins:
				Cousin Claire is as close to a sister that I could ever have. She has opened her home to me numerous times for holiday dinners where she has continued family traditions that I value so much. Claire and her brother, Charles, have always treated me with great kindness. Their parents, my Uncle John and Aunt Barbara, were my Godparents. So many memories.
				For many years, Claire and her husband, Carl, and Charles and his wife, Ola, and I would gather for Christmas Eve vigilia &mdash; a Polish tradition of 13 non-meat items. We wait for the first star to appear in the sky and we then break the oplatki and wish each other good health, good fortune and Merry Christmas.
				Claire, Charles and Ola are tremendous cooks as well. The food served by my cousins is every bit as good as the food served by my parents and theirs.
				These are special times with special people. This year, due to this unrelenting pandemic, we may not be able to gather around the table to celebrate those traditions and to remember all those good times of the past.
				Cousin Mary is always there when needed. She gave me my first pandemic mask. She made several and gave me a few. Mary is always available for stuff like that, and she never complains. Mary is also a good source for family history. She knows more about our family tree than anybody.
				Cousin Barbara is a person my dad and I could never thank enough. When my mom was very ill, my Aunt Julia, Barbara&rsquo;s mom, dispatched her daughter to take care of my dad and I &mdash; she washed our clothes, folded them and put them away, she cleaned our house, she cooked for us. She was a true Godsend. And Barbara never complained about helping us. She was always there for my dad and I during a most difficult time.
				Cousin Al, son of Big Al, and I have had some moments too. Al grew up in Forty Fort, but the family moved to Southern California in the mid-1960s. On my first visit out there in 1986, Cousin Al and his wife Tina, took me to Las Vegas. Wow, all those neon lights and people everywhere.
				We decide to take a break in one of the casinos, and we stopped at a little area to play Keno. I won&rsquo;t explain the game, but it&rsquo;s kind of like BINGO. My first card, I decided to select 15 numbers and bet $5. Cousin Al, the expert, told me I didn&rsquo;t want to do that. He said I should play five cards and bet $1 on each, which I did.
				The card I had circled 15 numbers on was a winner &mdash; I think I got 11 numbers out of 15. I won like $200. However, had I bet the $5, I would have won $15,000 and we would have been staying in a suite at Caesar&rsquo;s Palace for a couple of nights.
				Like I said, most memories of cousins are good memories &mdash; others not so much.
				But I really do value my cousins &mdash; all of them. They are my family, my past. my present and our future.
				I just wanted to tell them all thank you for all we have been through together.

Beyond the Byline: Cousins are the next best thing to siblings