A little history

First off, thank you so much to my first commenters! I am so excited to have a comment! I thank you for your kind words and you helped me get the courage up to contact my cousin. Hopefully it won’t be so many years between conversations.

Well, I did finally get through to my cousin. (We’ll call her N) She is home but a bit overwhelmed with the equipment and new meds she’s on, including a new feeding tube. But she said she was better today and happy to home.

I didn’t want to keep her on the phone too long, her parents were there I didn’t want to bother her. I felt so weird chatting with her after so many years! But I’m glad I called and she gave me her email address and I’ve already sent her an email – of course – with pictures of my new husband and pictures of my son and even my mom. She hasn’t seen any of us in years.

You see she’s not really my cousin by blood. Her dad and my dad were best of friends when they were kids and in high school and even after that. They always claimed to be blood brothers, because they swapped blood when they were little boys. I was always told I was part Polish because of this event! ☺ They were always so fun together, my dad and Uncle J were always joking around. Uncle J was even my Godfather! I loved spending time with him and he always made me laugh. I have such wonderful memories of going up to his cabin for summer vacations and just having a ball. Uncle J and his wife Auntie B, taught us how to water ski and I got my love of fishing from those wonderful times up north. So many hours fishing under the train tressels for bluegills and sunfish.

When I was 18 or 19, my parents split up. I was mostly out of the house and so into myself that I didn’t care, and frankly I was glad they were splitting up, it was not so great between them. But without getting into details – because details are what got me into trouble with my last blog - my dad got Uncle J (and family) in the divorce. Do you understand? It’s like people took sides. Maybe that’s not how it was but that’s how it looked to me as a young-adult anyway. Now I realize that it was probably just a matter of loyalty, but I missed my uncle J. It’s hard to write about because it’s really so sad how all of a sudden, we just didn’t talk to them anymore. I wish now I would’ve kept in touch.

So for many years, we (meaning my mom, me and my brother) didn’t hear from him/them much. But my brother – somehow, I don’t know the details – met up with Uncle J’s son, also a “J”, so we’ll call him J Jr. My brother and J Jr. forged a pretty strong friendship and he has stayed in touch with everyone since. He fills me and my mom in on important details, but for the most part, we still never really talk.

I was so nervous when I finally got to talk to her. Would she think I was a super-freak for calling out of the blue like this? Would she understand when I told her I was thinking about so her so much lately because of Nate and Tricia? Does she read blogs? Would she think I was strange for being so touched by them? I didn’t know but she was very gracious on the phone and I hope she responds to my email. I would really like to reconnect with her and her family.

Thank you readers, you gave me the gumption to do something good….I have chickened out on awkward situations before, but I did it this time and I’m so happy I did.

I’ll keep you updated.