Yankee-type Guy- The... | My Only Bitchy Cousin Is A

This is the story of how my only bitchy cousin, the Yankee-type guy, became the most honest person in my family. It began at my grandmother’s 80th birthday. The entire clan was gathered in her humid kitchen in Savannah, Georgia. The air was thick with the smell of fried okra and judgment. I was arranging a cheese platter (cheddar cubes and Ritz crackers, the sacred plate of the South) when Sterling walked in.

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. My Only Bitchy Cousin Is a Yankee-Type Guy- The...

That was the night I realized: my only bitchy cousin wasn’t a villain. He was a boundary-setting survivalist in a family that didn’t believe in boundaries. 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. This is the story of how my only