Reach Out And Touch Someone...

Well, kenju's recent post got me thinking about cousins today. I grew up living in the same neighborhood with my many cousins. We basically saw each other every day. Over time, most of us drifted apart. I was one of the very few "sinners" who actually left New York. As we became adults, weddings and Christmas would be the primary times when we'd see each other. As we aged, the funerals began replacing the weddings. After a couple of funerals that were only weeks apart, we decided to hold an annual cousin's party. That was incredible fun and brought back some wonderful childhood memories, but after a few years it was harder to get people to participate and it eventually fell by the wayside.

This is a picture of me and two of my older cousins. I was three years old at the time, which would have made it 1950. My cousin Anthony is the one wearing the hat and looking like a miniature mafioso. The other is my cousin John. My father was godfather to Anthony. John's father was my godfather. Anthony was the first one in our family to go to college. I was the second. Actually, my father used to joke that he was the first one in the family to go through college...in through the front door and out through the back door. (Hey, maybe that's how I got my sense of humor.)

Around Christmas time, Anthony sent me an email which was the motivation behind my Older 'N Dirt post. I sent him the above picture and he got a real kick out of it.

Now, the theme of this post is to reach out and touch someone (but not in a private place...sorry, I just couldn't let that one pass.) ... which means, try to contact someone...friend or family...that you haven't seen or communicated with in a very long time. Do it sooner, not later.

I'm going to communicate twice. First, with a very old and dear friend whom I haven't seen or spoken with in almost a year. She normally contacts me if I let things go too long, but I know she's really pissed at me because I said that I'd be the catalyst since she's been playing that role for the last 20 years. Second, I'm going to contact a relative that I've never met. My cousin Anthony found that we have relatives in Texas. He actually met some of them when they were in New York. I found out from an aunt that one of my grandfather's brothers was really the first family "sinner"...he decided to settle in Texas instead of in New York with the rest of his siblings...so all of our Texas relatives are descendants from my father's side of the family. Anyway, I am planning to contact a distant cousin via email, and maybe even meet when I'm in Texas in June.

So, reach out and touch someone...now!!


Badabing Badaboom...