New Cousins

Yesterday, I met three new cousins that I didn't know. It was an absolutley wonderful experience, and I am so glad we were able to all come together for the afternoon. They are delightful people whom I hope to get to know better in the future.

This meeting made me think about all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. in my family tree that I have not met -- either because they died before I was born, or because our families were not close geographically. The saddest part is that there are also many I haven't met purely because the branches of the family have drifted apart over the years. Whether due to geography or some other "political issue" that can divide a family... In fact, there are plenty of my relatives living within a 100-mile radius of here that I would love to meet and get to know. Unfortunately, not everyone seems to have time for that.

But, that is one of my goals in life: meet as many cousins and other distant relatives as I can. And make sure we figure out how we're related. Some of the last names on my family tree are fairly common, but some are certainly distinct enough to reasonably assume that everyone with that name is related. I just have to figure out how...