Last month I attended the funeral of a cousin. We were not close but he was the cousin I saw the most, and that wasn’t as frequent as it sounds. My cousin and his wife were the ones who kept in touch with my parents and the rest of the family. I probably met him a handful of times in my life. His death was unexpected, and so a bit of a shock.
At his funeral I met 3 other cousins and their families. I doubt if I have met those cousins more than 3 times in my life. If I meet them again in this life I will consider myself lucky. A funny thing about funerals: they bring families together where a wedding doesn’t.
In his eulogies, I heard his friends talk about him and a side of his life I had no idea about. Yes, I knew he was into horses, but not to the extent he was. I considered speaking but what could I say? I was his cousin and that is about all. On the drive home I kept thinking.
Thinking of my cousin and his family, I decided I would set up a legacy in his memory. Not one through crowd funding but one I hope will trickle through and spread out.
In today’s world of email, telephone, and social media, there is no excuse to lose touch with relatives. We are so busy with keeping up with the latest feeds, and tweets, collecting more and more followers and friends, we treat our families like an ornament pushed to the back of the cupboard and brought out on the odd occasion.
I ask you to hit Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and search for a relative or friend you have not seen for yoncks and reach out to them, re-establish contact, and post or send a message every few months. A simple, 'Hi, Just thought of you. Hope everything is fine with you', type of message.
And there is still good old snail mail and the yearly Christmas card.
At his funeral I met 3 other cousins and their families. I doubt if I have met those cousins more than 3 times in my life. If I meet them again in this life I will consider myself lucky. A funny thing about funerals: they bring families together where a wedding doesn’t.
In his eulogies, I heard his friends talk about him and a side of his life I had no idea about. Yes, I knew he was into horses, but not to the extent he was. I considered speaking but what could I say? I was his cousin and that is about all. On the drive home I kept thinking.
Thinking of my cousin and his family, I decided I would set up a legacy in his memory. Not one through crowd funding but one I hope will trickle through and spread out.
In today’s world of email, telephone, and social media, there is no excuse to lose touch with relatives. We are so busy with keeping up with the latest feeds, and tweets, collecting more and more followers and friends, we treat our families like an ornament pushed to the back of the cupboard and brought out on the odd occasion.
I ask you to hit Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and search for a relative or friend you have not seen for yoncks and reach out to them, re-establish contact, and post or send a message every few months. A simple, 'Hi, Just thought of you. Hope everything is fine with you', type of message.
And there is still good old snail mail and the yearly Christmas card.
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