Meet The Family

Our family, I'm sure, is a lot like other families, but from afar I often envy those who have large families with cousins, aunts and uncles and all kinds of relatives bustling about. We are pretty self contained. I've spent a lot of time wishing and praying for more family. I have even spent time mourning the fact that adult relatives didn't foster relationships with me when I was a kid or care to connect now that I'm older. Just within the past month I've told my children stories about cousins I used to have and recently posted a commentary about shoes on my Moments In Time blog about wearing my Uncle Jeff's hand-me-down tennis shoes as a kid. Then, on Mother's Day I get an email, one that I glanced at and thought to myself "Nah, can't be." But guess what? It was! My cousin Gara (also a neice of Uncle Jeff) emailed me and she too has had enough of the no family contact. We've spent several days emailing and catching up. Honestly I don't remember the last time I saw her, but I know she was younger than 10. Here is my long, lost, happily reunited cousin Gara and her beautiful family! I am just so delighted to have her back in my life!






Meet Gara, Her husband Ryan, and her beautiful sons Gabe and Noah. They live far away and we probably won't get to "meet" for a while (or at least until one of us is independently wealthy), but it's a great start and leave my heart a little hopeful for the future family possibilites it might hold.

Thanks Gara! Oh, and by the way, it's great to see a freckle face like myself somewhere in the bunch! I did remember that we both had freckles, but forgot until I received this adorable picture of you!