Hi ilayacute,
Please don't double post your questions - it is against the rules laid out in the
Posting Guidelines. If you want to make changes to your question after posting it you can do so up to an hour afterwards using the Edit button.
A Session variable's lifespan is limited to the length of a users session. When they first log in their session begins until either they log out, the session expires (times out) or the page errors.
A Cookie is stored in the client machine so it's lifespan is only limited by the length of time that the user retains that cookie.
What code are you using to set and request the cookie variable?
Dr B