My Cousin, Brian

I have a cousin in California that I have never met.

It seems that certain members of my family had a problem with Brian’s parents, my mother’s brother (my uncle), Charlie and his wife (at the time), because she is black. While this sounds incredibly superficial and stupid to me and to my mother, it is a reality. There are members of my family that are racist to the point of excluding other members of the family.

When Keith and I were dating, I began to make special efforts to ask about Brian, and eventually, I got his email address, and contacted him.

I recently saw a DVD of his wedding. It was absolutely beautiful, and I feel so connected to him. His wife, Essence, and their daughter, Brianna, are both breath-taking.

I emailed him yesterday about the wedding. I hadn’t emailed him in quite some time.

Today, he emailed me back. He seemed very surprised and happy. And he had some news for me: Essence is pregnant again. I’m so happy for him that I can’t hardly contain myself.

I want to go to California so badly. I want to meet him, and hang out with him, and talk to him for hours, as I’m sure we would.

Family has become so incredibly important to me, and I want to maintain contact with every family member I can find. I understand my mother’s passion for geneology now.

You know, she found her great aunt through the internet recently…she exchanged pictures with her…her aunt in the spitting image of my namesake, my great-grandmother, Mary Agnes Lindsay. And she wrote my mother that her grand-daughter could be my twin. I think it’s amazing how, even generations apart, the family resemblence is sometimes shocking.

Brian, for example, is his father all over again. I can tell that just from his pictures and emails. I can’t help but wonder how similar he and I might be. I hope I get the chance to find out.