Friday 28th July 2023
Family. I love it. I've loved coming from a big family with all the eccentricities and different characters of each one of us. I also love the word 'cousin' because it's a different level of kinship that ties us by genes yet we can decide to have interaction and it's not forced on us like sibling relationships are. I have a huge clan of cousins too.
Having moved away from all of the extended family at a young age, I never had the chance to forge cousin connections. We had a set of cousins move to South Africa in the 70s, but even then they were a good 6 hour drive away. The immigrant community I lived in became like a new level of extended family and it was a fantastic substitute in a foreign land. As life has shifted, social media has become such a powerful instrument for me to keep connected, and it's one I cherish. Getting to know my cousin in person is amazing and I love it.
Tonight there are two nephews in town, so there was a huge clan gathering of banter and laughs. I even sat on the floor for a part of it, just like I used to, as a teenager in my mum’s house. Sitting cross legged isn't quite as easy as then though, lol. As the conversations flowed I wondered how my two extremely quiet nephews were experiencing it all. I haven't seen the one nephew in 8 years, and a full-on clan assembly can be daunting and there was still half of the clan missing.
But my 1am sleep time from last night caught up with me and I had to retreat before the visit was done. No major travelling for me tomorrow so perhaps I can sleep late. Right now I still have 12 minutes for my Duolingo!
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