Article #38 Cousin's Reunion

While in Texas recently, my husband’s family had a cousin’s reunion. He was able to reconnect with many of his kinfolk––some he had not seen since his childhood. Cousins are children of your aunts and uncles. They may be older or younger but they do share the same grandparents, and memories of attending common family celebrations. If you were an only child like me, cousins filled in for the sibling companionship that was missing in my life. Our extended family lived in the same area and gathered together for most holidays. The cousins saw each other quite a bit. (Photo above of my cousin Jody who just turned 75, and her parents my uncle Les and aunt Esther.)

My husband’s cousins range in age from those in his generation to others who are younger and older. Some are even cousins of his parents. A unique situation has brought my husband’s family together. One of their older cousins married, had no children then divorced, and moved away. When this man died in Oregon recently, the state found he’d left no will or heirs so they determined that his estate should go to his cousins. They became his next of kin since both his parents were deceased.

Well, that makes for an interesting genealogical problem of finding these cousins. Tracing his family roots back to Texas, a lawyer was able to locate a relative still living in the same area. Fortunately, she happened to be an avid family historian and was able to contact all the living cousins and descendents of those who had died. A reunion was called to gather more information on this long lost relative who broke all contact with the family after he moved away. I think he would be surprised to know all his earthly possessions will now go to these cousins that he left behind in Texas.

I had this same situation in my family with a widowed great aunt in Ohio who had no children and left a will leaving her estate to her nieces and nephews. All counted, she ended up with 43 living nieces and nephews plus 134 descendents or grand nieces and nephews plus a few step nieces and nephews. It got to be quite a process to contact them all. Each person received a very small inheritance after it was divided. I guess the moral of this story is to have a clearly defined will defining who your heirs are and/or stay in contact with your cousins! (Photo above of my cousin Ruth and her parents my uncle Norman and aunt Gladys.)

Voices from the Past

I've had these old homemade records that my mom had preserved carefully packed in a box since 1943. She tried to play them for me once decades ago on an old record player but they were very scratchy and difficult to hear. They are homemade recordings that my uncle Les made in Venice California during WWII. But what made them most interesting for me is that Les interviews my dad who died in 1945, my mom gone since 2006 and my self as a little blond girl about 3 years old.

Always curious to what my dad's voice sounded like, I took them to a company in Salt Lake City that restores and digitizes old recordings, films and videos. Now I am in the processing of transcribing them and improving the sound quality to make CDs for my family members who knew and still miss these family members. Les also interviews his wife Esther, daughter JoAnn and two of her little friends, his bro-in-law Norman, his wife Gladys and their child Ruth. Most of these people are no longer with us but waiting in the heavens for the great family reunion we'll have one day.

As I'm doing this transcribing, I realize how important it is for each of us to preserve our voice for our progenitors whether on tape, video tape or just written down. There will be those of our grandchildren or extended family who will treasure our words and remember the contribution we made to their lives. So let me encourage you again to write your biography or experiences from your life, whether by blogging or emails or in a printed record to leave for your family and friends. We do make an impression on others during our sojourn here on earth.