My cousin Leslie is getting married on November 23, and I can't tell you how happy I am! Leslie and I have always been particularly close to each other, and I'm not exactly sure why, because we are very different. I suppose it is because the Galan family (my mother's side) are very tight-knit. That doesn't mean that everyone always gets along, but we don't hold grudges and we get over things pretty quickly. That helps everyone stay close.
Leslie and I are two years apart, almost exactly. She was born July 30, 1986 and I was born July 17, 1988. You could say that we were two almost completely different people, but that hasn't ever stopped us from being best friends. There are countless pictures and home videos of us as little girls, catching grasshoppers outside in our slips after church, and jumping on the trampoline. Some of the most humorous videos depict my dad behind the camera asking us questions, and Leslie speaking for me because of my strong speech impediment. In all of the movies though, Leslie is looking out for her younger cousin.
(These pictures are all very small because they are pictures of pictures that I took with my phone camera back home)
Leslie's family lived in Provo until I was 8, and then they moved to Round Rock, TX, which is ironic because that is basically where I now live. We only saw each other maybe once every other year after that but whenever we got together it was like no time had passed. I always looked up to her and saw her as my big sister, because I didn't have one. We would write letters to each other (before the years of email and texting) and talk about when we'd see each other next.
When we were together we had so much fun it's impossible to describe. We would somehow manage to start a discussion that caused us to run for the bathrooms in order to not pee our pants. The thing I love the most about Leslie is that I can let my inner-crazy out and she doesn't mind. She doesn't mind, because she has an inner-crazy too. Our inner-crazies cannot be contained when they are together.
After I graduated high school, I started making little trips to Arizona every few months just so we could hang out. Those were some of the best trips I ever went on!
Eventually, after much persuading and a few months for Leslie to think about it, she decided to move to Provo and live with me as my room mate. Living together made us realize two things: 1) We had different social styles; she liked big groups and wasn't afraid to meet new people, and I was more of a homebody and liked small gatherings and 2) We still acted like 5-year-olds when we were together. This was not a bad thing! We made a pretty good pair, and because we kind of did our own thing and hung out with different people we never got sick of each other, but instead could come home and relax, unwind, and laugh until we peed. Of course, we got into fights and tiffs, but those always blew over quickly. We often used the term "frenemies" to describe what we were. As Galans, we are loud, we are moody, we say what we feel, but then we get over it. And it worked for us.
One of the things that makes me the most happy about the time we lived together is that she got to see Glen's and my relationship from the very beginning. There was one night in particular that still makes me laugh every time I think about it. Glen had asked me out on our third date, which was very exciting because we had decided that he wasn't interested anymore. I was so nervous! But she helped me pick out what to wear and let me use some of her best make-up and perfume. After I was ready, we sat on the couch and stared at each other. We were both freaking out. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and we knew it was Glen. Instead of getting up, we both looked at each other and starting making silent screaming faces, flailing our arms and legs wildly as if we were on fire. We continued to do this until finally I got up, put my hand on the doorknob, exchanged one last "WE ARE TOTALLY FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW" face with Leslie, then opened the door and acted completely normal.
We are awesome like that.
Well, Leslie has met the best guy she could possibly decide to marry. Don is PERFECT for her, it makes me so happy! What makes me even more happy, is that Don and Glen are perfect for each other too. Not only are they both white, but they seem to share many like qualities and enjoy each others company. This is good news because it means more hang out time for me and Les. Both of them are so patient with us and let us be crazy together while they do something normal like go put puzzles together (true story). I'm so glad Don understands Leslie's craziness and that he doesn't try to change her one bit. Glen once made a comment that went along the lines of "Every man that marries a Galan woman deserves a large trophy."
Anyway, I love my cousin dearly and am so excited to spend some time with her before she gets married! Here are some pictures that will hopefully accurately depict me and Leslie and how we feel about each other. Congratulations Don and Leslie!
Visit to Arizona, April 2008
(This event was especially memorable. After rollerblading only about a mile, and Leslie complaining that her feet were hurting, we realized her skates were on the wrong feet.)
(These are the first 5 Galan grandchildren. One reason Leslie and I were so close was because we were the only 2 out of the 5 that spoke English and lived in the U.S. In case you couldn't tell, Leslie is the front row on the far left, and I am on the far right.)
I love you Les!
