on enthusiasm and family

[helenmelon]

i just wanted to say how much i appreciated the enthusiasm of the comments you left in response to me finding out for sure i get to go to china. i'm not sure how much enthusiasm i'm gonna get in rl. since china's my final destination, i think i'll get more of the "are you crazy?" type responses than anything else from the, say, 40+ age-group i know

Comments

[zaklog]

In some ways I wish I had a larger extended family. I've only got two first cousins and I haven't seen them in years (in fact it may even have been a decade by now.)

I've got two nephews (and a third nibling on the way.) (nibling - your siblings offspring of indeterminate or both genders. To analogize, brother is to sibling as nephew is to nibling.) Unfortunately, they live approximately 1500 miles away. And though I do hope to move down to Houston somday, I don't get to see them much right now.

What extended family I do usually get to see is at least two decades older than me and seemingly interested in the most inane things I can think of. So I don't hang out with them much either.

I suppose the problem really could be me not making an effort to take advantage of what I do have. I think I'm philosophizing to much now, though, so I'm going to go.

[helenmelon]

oh, most of my cousins are a couple decades older than me, too. the young ones i speak of are their kids:) i'm the youngest cousin on both sides of the family, and one cousin even has a kid older than me. and i have family i never see, either. one of my dad's sisters has been estranged from the family since before i was born. my dad has three sisters and a brother, but we're the only family to hear from her at all, and that's just by a christmas card each christmas. another of his sisters (and her two kids and their their kids) all live in chicago, which isn't that far away, but i only see them once every ... five years? six? seven? i'm not sure. i last saw them at my brother's wedding, i think.

once the family christmases, easters, and thanksgivings stop, i worry about whether i'll ever see any of the younger generation, as they're further removed from me.