I connected with a cousin yesterday. The last time I saw her was at my sister’s wedding 25 years ago. I saw her at 16 and then not again until 41. She’s married, has an 8 year old son, and has been working at the same company for 20 years.

I grew up surrounded by cousins. A typical Friday night at my grandparents could be a gathering of 16-20 with half of them being kids. A couple cousins who didn’t live in the province would come and visit for 4-6 weeks in the summer. As we grew up, we saw less and less of everyone. Then I took off from Toronto to Vancouver 30 years ago so rarely see any cousins including, (I must admit embarrassingly), one who only lives a 45 minute drive away.

When I consider how many really great cousins, aunts, and uncles I have, it makes me a bit sad that I’m not as connected to them as I used to be. I also appreciate that I had such a rich experience growing up surrounded by cousins. Not everyone has that opportunity.