The Summer of Lessons: A Tale of Respect and Understanding
How a Cousin’s Visit Taught Us the True Meaning of Respect
A Summer of Change
For one summer holiday, my mom had surgery, and I was in 3rd grade at the time. My mom loves to cook and feed everyone who comes to our house, but that summer things changed. Due to mom’s surgery, she was on bed rest for a couple of weeks, and that was no fun. Everyone was busy with their lives, people came and went, and one older cousin volunteered to stay. She self-proclaimed to be my mom’s favorite; we were not happy to see her. We were in denial and started planning to send her back.
The Bossy Cousin
Growing up, none of us liked her as she was extremely bossy. It was a “my way or take the highway” situation. Practice what you preach — I was bossy too, but she was next level. My cousins and I formed a union called “Give Her a Tough Time.” She worked hard every day and provided us with all three meals and sometimes good snacks, but we were so adamant and never appreciated what she did. It sounds horrible. After one bite of food, our complaining session started: “Salt is missing,” “Too watery,” “It is burnt,” “Make another one,” “Why did you take on the responsibility if you do not know how to cook for cool kids?” She was an amazing cook, but due to the formation of our union, we had to deny it and disapprove of everything. She was killing us with kindness for two days until she dropped her kindness mask. There were eight of us, ranging from 5 to 10 years old, so-called cool kids and city kids. She wanted to escape, but the escape route was blocked by us.
The Ultimate Critic
One of my cousins, we called him the CC — the Criticizer. The minute she served, he would complain, “Well, my mami (aunt is Punjabi) makes it this way, why can’t you do it? You should have learned it. Don’t you know the king was coming to his summer palace, and you should have been prepared?” We were all like that, giving her a challenging time.
A Change of Heart
After three days, I realized we needed to stop. I was feeling guilty, and our behavior was not appropriate. I went and apologized to her and promised I would never do it again. It was not due to fear that she would tell mom, but I felt like, “What if this happens to me?” As each day passed, everyone said sorry, treated her nicely, and respected her. That day she made us homemade ice cream, ending the brawl. I spoke to my cousin a month back, and we laughed about this story. She said it was her fault too as she bossed us around.
Lesson Learned
Give respect and get respect.
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