Some of us.
Man, I just love my cousins! I like them too. There were close to 50 of us—from NY, California, Seattle, Florida, & Minnesota—together in St Paul this weekend for my niece Rachel's wedding. How'd we get so lucky? No drunks, no pills, & we all have similar kind-hearted politics. One cousin-trait-in-common is that we all understand the difference between a "removed" cousin & a numbered one. At this event were several first, second, third, & fourth cousins, as well as 1st cousins 3x removed, 2nd cousins twice removed, & endless variations. We delight in being close to people who are in fact distantly related.
When I was growing up in South Dakota, I believed I had a very small family. My dad's family had pretty much been wiped out & my mother's lived in England or California. It was a time when people didn't travel so readily as now—after emigrating, my mother didn't go back to England for 30 years, & as a child I went only twice to California, where my grandmother & uncles lived. It blows my mind how wrong I was.
When I was growing up in South Dakota, I believed I had a very small family. My dad's family had pretty much been wiped out & my mother's lived in England or California. It was a time when people didn't travel so readily as now—after emigrating, my mother didn't go back to England for 30 years, & as a child I went only twice to California, where my grandmother & uncles lived. It blows my mind how wrong I was.