I look at this photo a lot and I wonder who she was. I never met her, she died before I was born.
I never met either of my Grandfathers; one died before I was born, the other left his wife and kids (my Dad's mom and his three brothers) never to be heard from again.
I met my Dad's mom and her much younger second husband (an original cougar she was) a few times. I've nice but few memories of them, they died when I was ten. And I lied, it wasn't her second husband. They never bothered with getting married; she preferred living in sin. ;-)
I have never met many of my uncles or aunts. I'm not even sure if they're still alive.
I do know one uncle; my Dad's little brother but I haven't seen him in 15 years.
I don't know any of my cousins, except one.
I have four nephews; I haven't seen my oldest nephew, who is the same age as me, since we were 14. We were like siblings and very close. The two middle ones I saw at my father's funeral (Nov 07); the youngest I haven't seen in seven years.
I haven't seen my niece in seven years either.
I have two great-nephews that I've never met.
My oldest brother died about ten years ago. I hadn't seen him since I was 15. And prior to that visit, since I was seven.
I haven't seen my other brother or my sisters since last xmas.
I saw my Mom last week. I try to keep in regular contact with her, especially since my Dad died. I do love her but...
I have no children and I think I'm ready to close the door on that one. I like kids, well some kids ;-) but I've never really desired having children of my own and looking at the above, it's no wonder really.
The photo of my Grandma is my notion of family; unknown, faded and two-dimensional.
Thank god for friends.
EDIT - Re-reading the above. I think the above might sound worse to people who have a stronger sense of family than I do. To me, the above is normal; it's what I'm use to. I certainly feel a void of sorts and sometimes that knocks me flat but it's also a 'I don't miss what I never had' sort of thing at the same time.
