I have a lot of first cousins – on my mother’s side and my father’s side. Although I occasionally visited with the cousins on my mother’s side when I was growing up, I’m getting to know them better as an adult. This has been a really rewarding experience and I’ve enjoyed it.
On my father’s side of the family, it’s completely different. I grew up with my cousins, we went to the same schools, saw each other at frequently family get-togethers and cookouts, played together and so on. When we were kids, there was a wonderful camaraderie – we teased each other and laughed a lot and grew up. There were also losses along the way. We were all so young when my father died – it is part of our collective story and memory. So is our grandmother’s funeral, when we were young adults. Continue reading
My mother looks forward to calls, notes and visits, particularly from my brothers – I have three of them. She enjoys hearing what they are up to and what’s going on with her grandchildren – she has seven of them. Unfortunately, she doesn’t retain the information for very long and has difficulty remembering which grandchild goes with which son! But that’s another story. 
my mother, my cat and me 