Cousins are Fun

In the movies, it seems as if those in the North East grow up closely with their cousins. One big happy family. It looks like fun for the most part, until one has to whack the other one for going against the code. Oh wait a minute, thats a different kind of family.

My experience has been much different. My mother was one of ten children. They lived through the Great Depression and the World Wars. Many of her brothers fought in those wars, as did my Father. They grew up in Houston, TX and then scattered like rose petals tossed in the wind. Some went far and wide, some stayed close to home.

My Mother was on the younger end of the ten. Out of the ten, we only have four remaining in this world with us. The past five years have been hard for us, we've lost a lot of the Great Generation, as a lot of people now call them. I agree with that term. They saw so many changes in this world. They made so many changes to this world. In this group of ten siblings was such a diverse group of individuals.

Every family has its secrets and I'm sure with such a large family ours may have more than most. Some we can already look back and laugh about, some are still too painful to mention. As some of us dig deeper into genealogy we have found some surprises.

One of our ancestors was made famous of infamous by the way she lived and died, and through her line of the family we have found we are related to someone that has a very different set of values than most of our family. Both names will always be in the History books, but I don't feel as if it's my place to divulge them.

We have an Aunt that turned 90 a few years ago. And as I mentioned, we've had some sad funerals. Through those occasions, there has been a unique turn of events. I have had the extreme please of getting a chance to connect with cousins that I may have briefly met in my early childhood, but never really gotten to know. Now through the wonders of the internet and even face book, some of us have stayed in touch and gotten to know each other so much better. It's truly been one of the best surprises of my life.

Even though it wasn't often that we were all at my grandparents at the same time, we still have pretty much the same memories of those grandparents. Our Grandfathers garden, our Grandmother's cooking, and how she liked to whistle while she cooked. 

To further my delight, some of us have even more in common. Our sense of humor, our love of books and reading, some of us are writers. A few of us even seem to think a lot alike. I know we are cousins, but we never really knew each other as much as we knew a little bit of each other. Now it's so much fun to get to know them and to get to talk to and joke with them.

When my sister's husband was very ill last Fall, they tried going to a specialist in Houston. In the middle of their own busy lives, my cousins found the time to be there for them every chance they got. I don't think they'll ever realize how much that meant to my sister and her husband - and to me, from a distance. My brother - in - law passed away in January. But he told me how much it meant to him to get to spend some time with them.

Yesterday, I put out a call for help (on-line) for someone that might have some time to help me with proof reading. Two of my cousins were two of the first to offer help. In today's world, where we are all so busy and caught up in our own personal rat races, one of them took the time to find a friend that could help, and the other said she could do it personally. 

It's a big deal for me to ask for help, but it is even a bigger deal to me that they jumped on board so fast. My cousins - that I didn't even know well enough to talk to a few years ago, are now so important in my life that they are willing to be there for me just because I asked. But even before this, I knew that they love me. I just hope they know how much I love them too. All of these cousins that I have gotten to know better over these past few years. How awesome to find family that you never Really knew you had. Who knew?

I hope this gives some of you something to think about. There are more people out there than you realize that probably care about you. Maybe someone who needs you in their life. Maybe someone that you need in yours.

Drive Safely,

KT Banks