| | Yankee Cousin Liam | | --- | --- | | "I’m fine!" (I am not fine.) | "I’m annoyed, and here’s why." | | Let resentment fester for decades. | Address it, argue, move on in 20 minutes. | | Politeness over honesty. | Honesty over politeness. | | "Let’s pray about it." | "Let’s budget for a therapist." |
series) featuring a "Yankee" (delinquent-style) male character and his interactions with a younger cousin or relative.
But he shows up. Every year. The Yankee-type guy with the bitchy comments and the quiet, fierce loyalty. He flies a thousand miles just to stand in a kitchen and complain about the cheese plate.
There is a peculiar kind of loneliness that comes from being the only polite person at a family reunion. It is a stillness in the chaos, a quiet sip of sweet tea while the rest of your kinfolk are hollering about college football or arguing over who makes the best banana pudding. I had grown accustomed to this solitude until one Thanksgiving, when the screen door slammed and in walked the human equivalent of a Park Avenue pothole: my cousin, Sterling.
Our unlikely friendship cemented in the cereal aisle of a Piggly Wiggly. We had been sent to buy ice for the cooler. Sterling, of course, insisted on inspecting every bag for freezer burn.
I gritted my teeth. “Bennett. Good to see you too.”