Across the Miles

jaye

jaye

Sweet Shoppe SugarBabe
I grew up without cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Big family get-togethers were a foreign concept to me as it was just the four of us.

My parents came to Canada from England, and my dad's two sisters went to live in Zimbabwe, whilst his younger brother and parents stayed in England. My mom's family is also in England. I met my grandparents a few times but didn't meet three of my cousins until 1993 at my grandmother's funeral. That was the last time I was in England until this summer. I was not only there on vacation but also to attend my aunt's funeral (it was supposed to be her 95th birthday but she passed away before). I was able to meet up with my cousins again, the two youngest now adults.

Fast forward to this morning. I received a WhatsApp message from my cousin with a picture of her brother and his family (they live in Australia) and a video of him saying hello. I have never met him, it brought me to tears. I have finally "met" all my cousins, there are only 6 of us.

If only my bank account would allow me to travel more....England, Germany, Australia.
 
I'm sorry you are not able to all get together, but thankful your cousin was able to message you for you to "meet"! Family is so important, and even though it's hard for you to get together or meet them in person, they are still family!

Maybe you should do a page with a map/globe and little tabs at the areas of where your family lives. It can be family across the miles page! Then you could send it to each of them when finished, and you can use it to remember each other!
 
Oh, I hope you are able to meet in person!

I'm so grateful for the internet and how we are able to make these types of connections, but I'll be praying that somehow, some way, you are able to meet each other in person!
 
Oh Jaye, I hope you will meet in person one day.

I am so so thankful for Internet & technologies these days. My youngest brother & sister live in Toronto, my parents and my first younger brother live in Indonesia. Without Internet, it would be impossible to have almost daily communication with them. I'd be so lost.
 
That would be so cool if you got to meet in person! I grew up with a number of aunts, uncles and cousins but my girls only have 3 cousins - all boys. One lives 3,000 km away and we've seen him about every other year (now he's an adult that will be less I'm guessing). On the other side there were no cousins until my oldest was 8. My youngest has had her 2 cousins around so a bit of a different experience but they live 8 hours away (by car) so it's only a couple times a year - and now that they're 7,8,9 years old (mine in the middle) they don't have a ton in common.
 
tjscraps said:
That would be so cool if you got to meet in person! I grew up with a number of aunts, uncles and cousins but my girls only have 3 cousins - all boys. One lives 3,000 km away and we've seen him about every other year (now he's an adult that will be less I'm guessing). On the other side there were no cousins until my oldest was 8. My youngest has had her 2 cousins around so a bit of a different experience but they live 8 hours away (by car) so it's only a couple times a year - and now that they're 7,8,9 years old (mine in the middle) they don't have a ton in common.
Click to expand...

Braeden has 5 cousins on his dad's side and 2 cousins on my side. The two on my side are girls and five years younger than him, so nothing in common and they only live 30 minutes from us. His two male cousins live in the U.S., one in Florida and the other in Michigan. He talks to the one in Michigan daily and they visit when work schedules allow, he visited the one in Florida in November. Of the 3 female cousins on his dad's side, two are quite a bit older, married with children, and the other one is the same age as him and they are quite close. They were only an hour away from each other in college and used to hang out often. When Braeden went to Florida, Taylor went with him. He has had the benefit of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents for which I am grateful.

I was happy that I got to 'see' him, I feel like all is complete as I have 'met' every member of my small and spread out family. :wub:
 
It’s amazing how family can feel distant for so long, yet one message or photo can suddenly make everything feel closer. Finally meeting all your cousins, even through a video, must have been emotional in the best way. Moments like this really show how important connection is, no matter the distance.

And just like family care, good car care matters too whenever you need support for your vehicle, a trusted lexus service center dubai can make things easier in the same reliable way.
 
I'm glad you got to meet him!

I've chosen to live on the other side of the world from my family, but it's so different than what it used to be. Technology keeps us well connected, and, even though it's pricey, I can hop on a plane and be there within a day or two. I love my life, but I also feel sad for the life I didn't get to live with my family close by. I just think that every choice has a consequence, and that is mine.
 
It's so awesome that you are able to forge new family connections. When my mom died in May, I reached out to one of her cousins on my grandma's side of the family (we hadn't had much connection with them because my grandpa didn't really like her family).
Anyway, they've been doing a "cousin zoom" once a month and added me to the chat. It's been so fun getting to know them!
 
I love the idea of a "cousin zoom". My cousins all live far from me. I saw a bunch of them last summer at a family wedding/reunion and we had such a great time!

craftytam said:
It's so awesome that you are able to forge new family connections. When my mom died in May, I reached out to one of her cousins on my grandma's side of the family (we hadn't had much connection with them because my grandpa didn't really like her family).
Anyway, they've been doing a "cousin zoom" once a month and added me to the chat. It's been so fun getting to know them!
Click to expand...
 
stephc777 said:
I love the idea of a "cousin zoom". My cousins all live far from me. I saw a bunch of them last summer at a family wedding/reunion and we had such a great time!
Click to expand...

You should give it a try! It's on one of their free accounts, so it's only 30 minutes, but it's great to connect.
Most of the "cousins" are actually my mom's cousins, and are her age, but there are a couple of us from my generation.
I grew up not really knowing any of our extended family, so I'm really enjoying getting to know them!
 
I am so happy to hear that you were able to "meet" your cousin and hope, in time, you will all be able to get together in person!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2026 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top