Around the time my daughter was born in 2009, I (re)started my search for my biological father's side of the family. I knew he had passed away so I was looking for his mother (specifically) but also anyone else related to him or me in some way. I happened to stumble upon my grandmother's online obituary. Unfortunately, she had passed away the same week my daughter was born... but what I also discovered in the obituary was my name (!) as well as the names of three other people listed as her other grandchildren (!!).
After some Facebook sleuthing, I found two of those cousins (who are half-sisters) and struck up a conversation with them. They both came to visit several months later.
THERE IS A POINT TO THIS, I PROMISE.
One of those cousins, Iffy, has turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. She was also not raised with any contact with that side of the family so she didn't know about me anymore than I knew about her. Despite the fact that we only have one grandparent in common, we are shockingly alike -- personalities, likes & dislikes, even our looks. Her friendship, as well as all the normal things, has provided me with a tremendous amount of closure (and vice versa) that something good could come out of such a "bad" dysfunctional family (that neither of us has any contact with anymore -- including her sister).
We have been besties now for 7 (8?) years. At one time, I got her into digital scrapbooking but she has taken a semi-permanent break from it the last couple years.
The worst part is that she lives 1100 miles away so we don't get to see each other much. It's been almost 3 years since the last time we were in the same room. I am determined to change that in 2019!
