Cousins

                                                                                                                 

Cousins

By Marleny Abreu

The world may define us as cousins, but we know that the word cousin expresses little meaning for what we truly are. Throughout our childhood we lived for our sleepovers. We played dress up, sports, and even fought, cursed, did the silent treatment, but we learned that no matter what happens we are tied through blood and we are a family. We learned that friendship is not only about having fun, but about forgiving and respecting each other for who we are. 

As we entered our teenage years we practiced make-up on our faces, colored, washed, cut and strengthen our hairs. Enjoyed house parties and of course whispered the crushes we had and then later cried together over the heart breaks we felt. We learned that being a cousin also means being a friend and acting as a sister. 

Together we've adopted cousins. We’ve laughed, traveled, partied, said our farewells to love ones, cried, supported, encouraged, and best of all love each other.

 As we look back to those days we realize that we are more than just cousins. At this moment, on this time of year, we unite to share our love. We can look at every one of us and see the true beauty that we individually hold, but there is one true beauty we all commonly share together; our bond, our friendship, and our sisterhood. 

You see to the world we may just be cousins, but we truly are: sisters by love, friends by heart, and cousins by blood. A combination that is a pure blessing and one that can never be broken.

Vocabulary:

Practiced: Skilled or expert; proficient:

Whispered: Soft speech produced without full voice.

Crush: temporary love of an adolescent      

Encouraged: To inspire with hope, courage, or confidence; hearten.

Commonly: Belonging equally to or shared equally by two or more; joint:

Combination: mix, blend

Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the list above.

1. Leslie had a childhood ____________on Robert.
2. He _______________hard for his baseball game.
3. Mrs. Fernandez ____________her students to work harder.
4. I ______________a secret to Andrew.
5. The books in the classroom are _______________used by the students.
6. The _________________of reading and writing was necessary to complete the assignment.

Grammar Point:

A conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects parts of a sentence. You can use a conjunction to link words, phrases, and clauses.  For example: I ate the pizza and the pasta. You use a coordinating conjunction ("and," "but," "or," "nor," "for," "so," or "yet") to join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses. 

Remember the acronym FANBOYS: For-And-Nor-But-Or-Yet-So.

Grammar activity:

Look over the story and write down at least 3 conjunctions you find in the reading. Write a sentence for each conjunction.