Cousin Cousine

Cousins have, through the magic of social networking, reappeared in my life. Actually, some of it was ordinary telephone networking. I have looked for one cousin by her maiden name having no clue about her life so got no where at all. Her "little brother" I remember him as a tow headed little boy--called and we have had a couple of fun conversations. I got the FB of the girl cousin who is close to me in age, and wow! does she do interesting work. I have not seen her for about 33 years, my girls were babies, and the time before that we were in high school. We have lost all our parents now and that reignites the curiosity about family. Talking to my daughter, I realize how little my kids know about my paternal family. My parents broke up early on in my kids' lives and things were never really fixed between me and my dad before he died. His last words to me were "You are all liars, all 4 of you." There were 6 of us so I don't know which 4 of us were liars. At that time I was leaving toxic people alone and said goodbye. One aunt said we siblings were not allowed at my dad's funeral, but I didn't feel the need to be there anyway. so I didn't go. In the last couple of years the remaining aunt, the most fun aunt EVER really, said that was also a lie.Aunt D would not do that. I guess those two didn't tell each other everything. The aunt who "forbade" us from going to Dad's funeral also told us she had him buried at sea. The remaining aunt now says that was a lie, too,(on our part) that they really dug a hole on or in his mother's grave and put his ashes there. You can't make this stuff up. Even my mom thought he was buried at sea, boy was she surprised when she heard the truth. The same two aunts and my grandmother buried an older sister of mine who died as a baby and never told my mom where she was buried. So, can you see, there's not a lot of talking going on. Why did she accept that? We kids had never heard a word about this sister until I was a young teen and saw a picture that looked almost like me that I had never seen before. Oh, there was another baby. Many many years later when I was the mother of one, my mom and I were driving down first street when a story came on the radio about how many babies died in the 40's from a nutritionally incomplete formula, after 30 years my mother learned why her baby had died. That was her formula.
The last time I saw my uncles Charlie and Bob was when my grandmother died. Or maybe it was only Charlie... Charlie had had some tooth implants and was having trouble with them. The photo my cousin sent to me shows a guy who looks so much like his dad I might recognize him on the street.