· They
are often your very first friends outside the family circle.
· If you
are an only child, they may be as close as a sister or brother.
· Later
on you can talk about family stories and share memories and photos with each
other.
· If you
meet these cousins later in life via your research or DNA or whatever method,
they might provide very valuable information about your ancestors.
· As
bloggers, we often call our blogs “cousin bait.”
Here’s my cousin story for this week.
My cousin Paula lives about 3 hours up the coast from me,
here in California. She and I
reconnected in 2003, well into our adulthood.
We had last seen one another in 1966.
Since then we have become very good friends and fellow family
researchers. It’s been an interesting
journey, with discoveries on both her side and mine.
Our grandmothers were sisters, which makes me and Paula 2nd
cousins.
It had been a couple of years since I’d been to Paula’s
home and I knew we were overdue for a visit.
When I spoke to her, she told me that her sister, Shirley, was coming
into town for a couple of weeks. Most of
our family still lives in Michigan, including Shirley.
I knew right away that I should make the drive up there, as
I had never been able to spend much time with Shirley.
We cousins enjoyed one another for 3 days.
A surprise during the visit was that Paula and Shirley’s
grand nephew was in town from Michigan.
We were able to have dinner with him.
I’d not met him before. What a
nice young man. In the scheme of family
relationships, he is my 2nd cousin, twice removed.
During my stay, Paula brought out an envelope of photos
that she had gotten during her last trip to Michigan, from her other sister.
As we looked through these mostly black and white photos,
we all found treasures. For me it was
pictures of my own grandmother, Marie Lindsay Gould and my grandfather Harry W.
Gould sharing moments with Marie’s sister’s family. Additionally, it was seeing
a picture of my granduncle Bill Lindsay’s wife Matilda Vera Ena KIDD for
the first time.
(Click on any image to enlarge it)
 |
| Matilda Vera Ena Kidd Lindsay |
 |
| Left to right - Marie Lindsay Gould (my paternal grandmother), Shirley Hockster, Edith Curry Jessop, Elizabeth "Betty" Hockster, Paula Hockster, Mary Ortell Hockster and Bessie Lindsay Hockster (Marie's sister) Shirley, Betty & Paula are my 2nd cousins and Mary is their mother |
 |
| Back row - William "Bill" Lindsay, Bessie Lindsay, Everett Hockster, Joyce Lindsay, Robert McConnell, Harry W. Gould - Middle row - Marie Lindsay Gould, Matilda Kidd Lindsay, Ellen Hockster McConnell, May (in her lap is Betty Hockster) - Front row - Patricia McConnell, Shirley Hockster and Ralph Hockster |
I’d call those things great finds. Thanks Paula!
Any photo find is always a bonus. I’m going to put this out there right now. If you are LINDSAY descendant, belonging to our particular line, and you have photos, we’d love to see them. We are willing to share any of our own photos with all the cousins out there.
If you are related to or connected to anyone in this blog post,
please get in touch. Let’s exchange
information.
Happy hunting,
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION
