Have You Met Your Family?

[slayerfest]

Okay...so the other day a friend of mine just learned he has 3 cousins living somewhere in the UK. They're from his father's side of the family, his dad's sister. To make his situation less complicated, my friend has never really been close with his dad and didn't know much about his family. He just learned about the existence of this aunt and her kids. Not to mention he's never met his paternal grandparents and they have since passed away for quite some time now. I was spending the holidays with my family this past weekend which got me thinking..wow I must be so fortunate to be so close to my family. I've got a great relationship with my grandparents, I've met all my aunts and uncles and their kids my cousins although they live quite far away. I feel like I've taken that for granted somehow. This is just something I've never had to think about, not knowing my family. So I was just curious and wanted to know your relationship with you family. Anyone you haven't met? If not, would you like to meet them one day? Do you correspond via email, letters, phone, etc. Oh and let's just keep it simple, cause family these days can be defined in so many ways. Let's keep it to blood relatives and the following relationships: parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, first cousins and nieces/nephews.

[willowsummers]

My grandfather on my father's side died before I was old enough to remember him and I had a cousin that it took me over a year after his birth to meet because our family had kind of disbanded. I just met him a couple of weeks ago and I was glad because it didn't seem right that I had a cousin I had never even seen except in pictures.

I hope that helps some.

[elenasaur]

Well, I only have a grandma left out of my grandparents. My mom's dad died before I was even born, and the other two were pretty sick the entire time I knew them. But we pretty much hit the lottery grandma-wise. She's really sweet.

I've met all my blood relatives, though we very very rarely see my aunt and cousins on my dad's side. They spread out all over the place, whereas all my mom's family stayed in a three hour radius.


My cousin recently found out she has a half-sister who is a few years older than her though. Her dad announced this at a big party, which I suspect was a big factor in the divorce of her parents, since he gave neither his wife or his daughter any warning. Cheating on your wife is bad enough alone, but introducing your entire extended family to your illegitimate daughter as a surprise makes it a bit worse.

[Iceeh★]

I've never met any of my blood grandfathers, due to my mom's dad dying when she was quite young and my dad's dad not wanting to associate with us for some reason. I have one grandma left now, on my dad's side, and she comes up here to babysit me & my younger siblings when my parents go on trips... It's a fun [/sarcasm] experience. ~_~ I'm just bitter because I'd rather take care of myself, haha.

But, I have met all my aunts/uncles/cousins on my dad's side, and they're pretty damn awesome. Especially my aunt! On my mom's side, I've got a huge stepfamily that's practically blood.

Also, I'm convinced I have a half sibling somewhere out there, cause my dad got a girl preggers when he was in his young and wild days living in NYC. I never found out what happened with that, though

[Beaumonde]

I don't really know any of my relatives on my moms side except her dad, brother and sister who I don't care about.

My dads side has a lot. I know my Gran, my aunt and uncles and I know of their kids but I don't actually talk to them or know them. One of my uncles moved to Canada and my dad has some cousins in Australia or something.

But I don't really mind not knowing them since they aren't what I call family. My family is basically my parents, siblings, niece and nephews. And my brother-in-law. And whatever additions come along the way.

[dragonweaver]

Well I thought I'd met most of my family until my maternal Grandmother died. We went to her funeral and my Aunt took my mother aside and informed her that they had an illegitimate half brother. My grandmother was a Germany citizen during World War II. Apparently she had a brief affair, before she ever met my grandfather, which resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. She gave her son up for adoption and kept it a secret for many years. To make a long story less long, I have an Uncle and several cousins who all live in Germany who I've never met and who I will most likely never get to see.

[Midnight Butterfly]

My grandfather (mothers father) walked out on her mother when she was only 3, therefore I have never met him, and never want to (If he is still alive). My mother doesn't even remember ever knowing him and she has tried to find him a few times (which I hope she never does because she will only be disapointed).

A few years after that my mothers brother (my uncle) died in a house fire. He was 20-something and my mom was 5 or 6. My mother has vague memories of him and ofcourse I never met him either as I was nowhere near born.

My fathers sister died at the age of 2 years old. It was my grandparents (fathers parents) first child and therefore he never met her as he was born after her death and ofcousrse I never met her as I was born almost 30 years after her death. Poor kid never even had the chance to grow up.

I only have vague memorys of my grandmother and uncle (mothers mother and brother) as they died when I was just a kid, although I did meet them.

Its similar with almost all of my mothers side of the family. I barely remember them as I was so young when they passed away.
The only member of my mothers family still living is her brother (ofcourse I cant speak for her father who left when she was a kid)

[Xander-Shaped Friend]

I've never met my mom's mother because she died before I was born so I've never referred to her as Grandma.

Because they are so much older than me, up until a few years ago, I thought my aunt only had one daughter when really she had three and two more sons besides that.