Monday night, after the Culver City Council meeting, I arrived home and my cousin Ray was there, hav- ing a beer and hanging out with my roommate/best friend Robert and his girlfriend Vianca. It was a pleasant surprise and a great way to end a long day. As SportsCenter carried on with its programming mainly as background noise, the conversation between all three of us (Vianca tuned us out via the iPad) bounced around from Yasiel Puig’s inability to hit one single ball out of the park during the Homerun Derby, to our Friday night softball team’s playoff possibilities all the way to the fact that Ray and I are 34 and 33 and not in serious relationships, or even in a position to begin that journey. Yet, what stuck with me the most was my cousin’s comment “it’s time for me to find a girlfriend.”
The reason that phrase stuck is because Ray has never been one to struggle in the dating scene, yet his comment broke everything down to what I think every human yearns for: companionship. My cousin, much like myself, are at a phase in life where late-night outings are no longer as appealing as they were 10 years ago and where the word commitment isn’t a reason to run for the hills. Not that we have ever been wild and crazy but we have reached the phase in life where we want to settle down because during the past five years life seems to have slowed its pace. Believe me when I say that I feel for my cousin Ray. I know exactly what he’s thinking and how he’s feeling and I hope and pray that he finds that companion.
Ray and I grew up together. He is exactly one year and 17 days older than I am. We went to the same elementary school together (Hooper Elementary School); we graduated from the same junior high (Edison Middle School); and survived our time at the same high school (Fremont High School). Ray can accurately guess how I would feel about an issue 90 percent of the time, much like I could do the same for him. Ray knows when I’m mad, upset or a filled with joy. Ray introduced me to Led Zeppelin and Ozzy Osbourne; he continues to teach me about baseball and still doesn’t understand why I love soccer. We have celebrated the highest of moments together and grinded out extreme hard- ships side-by-side. Ray is the older brother that my parents never conceived.
Trust me, I love having my cousin over for late-night chatter, sports debates and a cold one. Still, nothing would make me happier than knowing that he’s found the one woman with which he can share the res of his life.
