Happy Family History Month, Cousin!

There is a radio personality on an oldies station who calls himself Cousin Brucey; drives me crazy. I don't know what it is about it; is it that his nickname "Brucey" is longer than his real name "Bruce" or is it that he calls everybody "Cousin"? "Hey, Cousins!" Grrrrr.

But I love my cousins. All of them. There are the ones I grew-up with, the ones I watched grow up, and the ones I reached through research. And I will prattle on to anyone who will listen about how wonderful cousins are. They aren't like siblings who we grow up rivaling for our parents' attention. They aren't like aunts and uncles who are typically older than us and can exert some authority. And cousins aren't like friends that come and go throughout our lives. Cousins are constants. Even if they have long stretches of absences, you know they are out there somewhere.

With the title "cousin" there comes an almost immediate acceptance; this sort of "oh-so-this-guy-knows" feeling. There is a sense of trust. Consider for a moment the time you tell a friend you are going on vacation. Sure enough this friend says, "hey, I have a cousin there." A sort of comfort comes over you, doesn't it? That somehow id something happens at least my friend has a cousin there who could help me out. Ok, so maybe not. But that is how that title makes me feel.

Aside from the immediate bond I feel with cousins, they are the greatest genealogical resource. No, no, no, they really are. See, I believe that every generation has a keeper of the family lore. Not ever sibling takes an interest in all this family history junk; one usually does though. Maybe not your great grandpa, but maybe his sister Lois. And those family stories and heirlooms trickle down the family tree from one interested ancestor to their most interested child, to their most interested child.

Those family mysteries that you want to unpuzzle are probably secreted away in some cousin's footlocker.

It is my hope that this blog will help me find more researching cousins. Someone out there may google a relatives name and get a hit on my blog. Should this be the case for you, please do not hesitate to contact me. I may have the bit of family history your looking for............