When you leave home at a young age, I was almost 19, and travel far to find adventure in a foreign land, you sometimes lose close contact with some members of your original family. Cousins can be few or many, and being close to them when growing up is always fun. I only have two first cousins and, along with my brother, we are four in total. Fortunately we all spent time together as children as we lived within a few miles of each other.
As active kids we spent time at the local beaches in our respective beautiful seaside towns.........cousin David and me in Torquay (above - Thatcher Rock), cousin Susan in Teignmouth just along the coast
I never thought I'd see myself in a photo where I actually look short (I'm 5'8"), however the men in my English family are definitely tall...........and handsome, don't you agree?
My first cousin David on the left is dad to my three second cousins - Gary standing on my right, Aaron ready to dig into a delicious Christmas dinner, and lovely Nina giving her son Fraser age 4-1/2 (my third cousin) his first guitar lesson - Santa had obviously emptied his sack for such a good little guy.
Fraser wearing the NC State shirt we brought him from North Carolina. He's just started school and was such a well-behaved kid.......and much less shy than when we met him for the first time in 2011.
Do you have close contact with your cousins? They often remind you of childhood times you shared and bring back so many fond memories.
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What a beautiful family dear! I'm always in touch with some of my closest cousins. Mommy had 11 other siblings, so even then was hard to keep in touch with my little cousins. :) I just know it was always fun when we all got together. See you soon! Love ~ Vanessa
ReplyDeleteHi Mary
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough I saw 4 of my cousins this past weekend at their Mum's 90th birthday. I was close to 2 of them, I guess closer in age to mine, I don't see any other cousins at all. It was quite strange to think that even though we probably have little in common, we are family. My children usually catch up with their cousins at Christmas time, and even though it may have been a year since the last get together, you would not know it as they all get on so well together!
Cheers Judy xx
Wow Mary, You do grow them cute over there!! hehehe! SO glad you had such a wonderful Christmas with family! Now off to your next adventure!!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely that you got to spend some time visiting your cousins Mary, and to meet the extended family as well. I have one cousin on my father's side that is older but we grew up in the same city so saw each other often. We enjoyed staying with her at her cottage this summer and saw her more this year than in the past 35 years put together! On my mother's side there were more cousins but we didn't see them much and I have lost touch with them. Some of them we never even met as they lived in another province! Funny and sad how time and distance makes us lose touch. Wonderful pictures of your 'kissings cousins'.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely family photo Mary! I have a great many cousins, 23 first cousins most of whom I'm in touch with and innumerable second and third cousins most of whom I sadly don't know. I'm very family orientated and have tried hard to maintain the links.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good-looking family photo there, Mary. Cousins can be so much fun. I have many of them (56 first cousins) and remember family gatherings that were so much fun. I'm still fairly close to some of my cousins - the ones closer to my age. Some of my cousins (the very youngest) are my children's age.
ReplyDeleteThe Devon coast looks like a beautiful place. What wonderful memories you must have.
What a beautiful (and yes, handsome too) family, Mary. I've got one cousin I'm rather close with out of the eight total. We always have a great time when we get together, but she lives in Washington state so that is not often. We've been close since childhood days. Six of my cousins are men and aren't very good at keeping in touch anyway, and all of them are scattered far and wide. The seventh cousin lives in the middle of North Carolina though she was raised in California. We didn't get to spend much time together growing up and don't know each other very well.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to reunite with close family, Mary. Sadly, two of my cousins have now passed on, but I do have one othe r left.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post dear Mary, and yes your cousins sure are hunks!
ReplyDeleteNo wonder you had such a delightful Christmas with such great family around you - wonderful memories :o)
I have four first cousins, but I'm only in touch with one and he's like my other brother as there is only ten days between them. We see each other a couple of times a year but speak regularly.
Bet you're getting excited about the new adventure...have fun and stay safe dear friend.
Rose H
xx
Oh Mary, what a handsome bunch of men you have in your family ! :)
ReplyDeleteI have cousins all over the place but we lost touch years ago. The one that I was closest to, died.
We are all a bunch of wanderers, it is hard to keep track :) How lovely your family is and that you got to spend the holidays together !
besitos, C
What a wonderful photo of you with your cousins, Mary. How nice that you could share Christmas together. I have a lot of cousins, but we're scattered around the country and rarely see one another. I did recently re-connect with some of them via Facebook, which is nice.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that the weather didn't cooperate for you as that little table on the balcony is charming and would have been so nice to sit at while enjoying that gorgeous view.
Before I forget, I love your header... it really is a Breath of Fresh Air. Such a welcome sight as we begin a new year.
What a beautiful family. I am so happy you were able to be together for the holiday.
ReplyDeleteYes, there were 26 grandchildren on my mother's side. I am second oldest and the oldest girl that babysat many of the younger ones. I don't have a close contact with all of them, but many. We are planning a women's gathering this coming October at the coast, which I am looking forward to. I have 5 cousins on my father's side, but only keep close contact with one. He lives nearby and we go out to dinner every couple months. Cousins are the very best.
What a lovely family and just the gathering that Christmas should be. I think that childhood contacts, cousins and friends, are so valuable, they keep the past alive and the memories of those we have loved.
ReplyDeleteHow truly delightful, Mary, that you got to go home and see family for Christmas! You do have a very handsome family, indeed! What a blessing this was! I know you were thrilled! Here's hoping you have a wonderful 2013!
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