I come from a family that has had lots of breaks/feuds. I grew up only knowing a very few of my relatives.
Over the past dozen years ago I have connected with lots of relatives that I had never met, or met only once or twice in my earliest childhood.
Regardless of what the issues may have been between the older generations, I have found most of my cousins to be pretty delightful.
Yesterday, I met one of my first cousin for the first time. He’s probably about twenty years older than I am. I may have met him once in 1964. After a minute or two of conversation, my cousin slid his thumb into my field of vision.
Like me, and like my mother, and our grandfather, my cousin has a paddle thumb. Neither my cousin or I have paddle thumbs quite as spectacularly wide as my mothers, but there it was. I loved how my cousin slid that thumb into my field of vision. My mother has done the same thing to other people with similar thumbs. That man is really related to me.
After we compared thumbs we grinned at one another for the remainder of the afternoon.
Over the past dozen years ago I have connected with lots of relatives that I had never met, or met only once or twice in my earliest childhood.
Regardless of what the issues may have been between the older generations, I have found most of my cousins to be pretty delightful.
Yesterday, I met one of my first cousin for the first time. He’s probably about twenty years older than I am. I may have met him once in 1964. After a minute or two of conversation, my cousin slid his thumb into my field of vision.
Like me, and like my mother, and our grandfather, my cousin has a paddle thumb. Neither my cousin or I have paddle thumbs quite as spectacularly wide as my mothers, but there it was. I loved how my cousin slid that thumb into my field of vision. My mother has done the same thing to other people with similar thumbs. That man is really related to me.
After we compared thumbs we grinned at one another for the remainder of the afternoon.
What fun! I am looking forward to some grinning around here. My youngest sister is coming all the way from Alaska! I think she has just got to the last leg - leaving from Boston. 20 hours! not counting the time from when she left her house for Anchorage.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't really know each other growing up as I am the oldest and was away in her teens, and then she got married and went to Alaska the year before I got married and came to England. So, we have seen each other very infrequently. but when I went to Houston with the Bernina Gowns in 2007 and 2008 she came and we became very good friends.
okay. I better go to bed. it is up early to the airport tomorrow. but I always need a wind down when I come in from teaching at night.
Hope you continue to enjoy your new found friend/cousin.
Sandy in the UK
I love this. I can always know my relatives by the feet, or as my husband refers to them after a family reunion on the Frio "the McCrory pads"
ReplyDeleteThat reunion made me love my feet, which previously I had not quite understood. Yay.