Family Ties
For nearly two years I have been communicating with a cousin that I haven't seen in half a century or so. She contacted me and asked if we could go to lunch. She is the daughter of my father's older brother.
We have tried to arrange a get together a couple of times and it just hasn't worked. Now, with this time in Utah for 6 weeks, we were able to meet. The arranged rendezvous site was a little restaurant south of the Salt Lake Temple. The time was 11:45 on a Monday. I got there right on time. I recognized her immediately. She was sitting with her back to us (Lia accompanied me to the shopping center so that she could get a few errands done.) at a table under a canopy of beautifully green trees. Her long blond hair gleamed in the sunlight and she was smartly dressed in business attire. She turned as we approached and smiled radiantly at us. She was so much like her mother that it took my breath away.
She told me that I reminded her of MY mother! It seems that I am often told that by family members. We ordered our lunch and then chatted for an hour or so. We talked so comfortably about our fathers, their loyalty to their brothers and two younger sisters, and their children, the Checketts cousins. She told me about her husband and children; I told her about mine. We shared Chicago dental school experiences.
All too soon she had to leave. We hugged and said our goodbyes. I felt a sense of loss. I have missed a lot of years of what I think would be a sweet friendship with Colleen. Time and distance and a general lack of organization among the cousins have served to keep that from happening. I hope to contact her again after our mission and take up where we left off. If it weren't for all of the many efforts of our cousin Susan, there would be no contact at all.
Family is too important to let that happen. Besides DNA, I believe we share much. We share our parents experiences in life, the stories they have told us about growing up in their family home during the Depression and through WWII. We share a general attitude about life given us by them. We share a common ancestry, and in some cases very recognizable physical features. The Checketts individuals of my father's generation were loving, accepting, fun-loving, generous, not-particularly religious - but full of faith in a loving Heavenly Father, compassionate, willing to give someone the coats off their backs (hackneyed I know, but so very true), and unable to pass by a person in need. And as mentioned, so very devoted to their family.
Colleen mentioned that she had felt a strong prompting to get together with me. What a blessing for me that she did.
We have tried to arrange a get together a couple of times and it just hasn't worked. Now, with this time in Utah for 6 weeks, we were able to meet. The arranged rendezvous site was a little restaurant south of the Salt Lake Temple. The time was 11:45 on a Monday. I got there right on time. I recognized her immediately. She was sitting with her back to us (Lia accompanied me to the shopping center so that she could get a few errands done.) at a table under a canopy of beautifully green trees. Her long blond hair gleamed in the sunlight and she was smartly dressed in business attire. She turned as we approached and smiled radiantly at us. She was so much like her mother that it took my breath away.
She told me that I reminded her of MY mother! It seems that I am often told that by family members. We ordered our lunch and then chatted for an hour or so. We talked so comfortably about our fathers, their loyalty to their brothers and two younger sisters, and their children, the Checketts cousins. She told me about her husband and children; I told her about mine. We shared Chicago dental school experiences.
All too soon she had to leave. We hugged and said our goodbyes. I felt a sense of loss. I have missed a lot of years of what I think would be a sweet friendship with Colleen. Time and distance and a general lack of organization among the cousins have served to keep that from happening. I hope to contact her again after our mission and take up where we left off. If it weren't for all of the many efforts of our cousin Susan, there would be no contact at all.
Family is too important to let that happen. Besides DNA, I believe we share much. We share our parents experiences in life, the stories they have told us about growing up in their family home during the Depression and through WWII. We share a general attitude about life given us by them. We share a common ancestry, and in some cases very recognizable physical features. The Checketts individuals of my father's generation were loving, accepting, fun-loving, generous, not-particularly religious - but full of faith in a loving Heavenly Father, compassionate, willing to give someone the coats off their backs (hackneyed I know, but so very true), and unable to pass by a person in need. And as mentioned, so very devoted to their family.
Colleen mentioned that she had felt a strong prompting to get together with me. What a blessing for me that she did.
Comments