. Yesterday i met for the first time another cousin I've discovered through Ancestry.com. She came with her husband, who is Norwegian and still trying to get his green card.
They are both in their 20s and live in NYC, though my cousin said they expect to live in Norway in five or 10 years; in the meantime, he wants to find a teaching job here. His expertise is Norse mythology. She has a big interest in historical textiles, and she was the one who uncovered the town, Hunkovce, where my Slovakian ancestors came from.
Here is the church in that town, which is across the street from my ancestors' address, and where they are buried.
I made a lasagna and big salad, plus a nut pie for dessert.
I let her pick out a few pieces of art, but I think she was more interested in my small collection of my mother's woven clothing. She took home a long loom-woven jackets and shawl my mother made. None of this clothing fit me, and so they've been hanging in my spare bedroom for 3 years now. I thought it was very fitting that my mother's mother's sister's great-granddaughter should wear and enjoy these.
All told, I've made meaningful connections with 3 new-to-me cousins I discovered through Ancestry; they each represent 3 of the 4 different family lines. And I've met once or at least connected on Facebook probably a dozen more.
Nice visit with new cousin
October 28th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
October 31st, 2018 at 07:11 pm 1541013115
My sister has dug up some cousins on Facebook who we are now FB friends with, but no one I have met face to face, as they live far away (about half of them in Israel). But nowhere near a dozen!
My family is quite geographically scattered and my oldest cousins are now 67 and 72, and I haven't seen them since the younger cousin's daughter got married in 2011. I'm making it a goal to try to visit both in 2019. The younger of the two lives in western Massachusetts and if it works out, I will stop by and visit with you on either my drive out or my drive back. The very first time the two of us met F2F was on my way home from that wedding in September 2011. The older cousin lives in Phoenix, so that would be a flying trip. I also have a cousin on the other side of the family and a former grad student who live in the Phoenix area, so that should make for a nice trip where I can connect with several people. I really don't have any particular desire to visit Phoenix again for its own sake!
November 1st, 2018 at 05:06 pm 1541091980