Some people may disagree. Some lose touch with the ones they love, or maybe never meet the people that share their blood.
I am one of 13 grandchildren, the McBride's are a large family and cousins were no different. It was fun as a kid to think I was in that clan. I remember staying awake in the car all the way through our ten hour drive to Ohio, knowing at the end of the brick road I'd get to see my family...my friends. Jamie, Kelly and I were inseparable through our childhood visits. I must admit it wasn't something I always loved but looking back I should have embraced it more, those years didn't last long.
I didn't have a sister and being with my cousins made me feel like I gained brothers and sisters in a short week.
It wasn't until years later I thought of one cousin I never had much in common with. Never really met.
Until this summer. Emily, the daughter of my late uncle was in Colorado every summer. We never visited Warren at the same time and aside from a few letters sent back and forth we hardly knew each other.
After my Uncle Jon past away I started to hear from her. I honestly can't remember how or when we started talking. It came slowly, through Facebook and skype, then we'd talk every night online. We learned more about each others lives and bonded more than we thought was possible over the internet.
And yet, still...I'd never met her.
During her summer vacation, her and her mom made a pit stop in Chicago. My brother and I finally got to meet our cousin and my dad got to see his niece.
Let's be honest for a second...I didn't think it would be a perfect meeting. In fact given the shared pasts (which I won't go into) I wasn't sure everyone would get along as swimmingly as we did.
And that meant a lot to two girls that spent 21 years not knowing who each other was.
I may never fully understand the past of my family but the beauty of the past is all in what comes out of it. It may never be perfect or healed but you're stuck with your family and loving them is sometimes the best option.
Great pictures! So nice to see! Family is pretty much everything to me. From a very early age I learned how lucky I was to have two sisters, who raised me and loved me, when a mother wasn't here to do so. In later years, to go through life and have the opportunity to give back to them, is what it is all about. One of the greatest pleasures of my life where the years I spent taking care of my niece and nephew. Those years I can't get back, but the memories are all very clear in my mind, and I will always have those. I treasure them. Life is short, so appreciate family and show them you love them everyday. It comes back ten-fold!
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