April 29, 2025- A lone patron sat on a stool at The County Seat Restaurant, when I walked in this morning. I knew instantly who it was- a cousin whom I hadn’t seen in 31 years. (Spoiler alerts: I had been in contact with him for a few weeks, and had arranged this lunch meet-up; besides, LinkedIn cued me to his present appearance.) I have been in his “summer community”, in the Twin Cities area, a couple of times in the past several years, but he was not there at the time. During the colder months, he and his wife are at home in the Phoenix area.

Our conversation focused, quite a bit, on the subject of family reunions. We used to have those, organized by one nuclear family unit or another, when the majority of aunts and uncles were still around. Now, there are four aunts on my paternal side and one aunt on my maternal side. We cousins connect, to some extent, with our siblings-and occasionally with those further afield.

I was able to visit with several cousins, on both sides, last summer during our farewell to my mother. The idea of an annual reunion was bruited about, but it occurs to me that the best way to connect with extended family is to just make arrangements, on an individual basis. That worked the past few summers and again today. It will likely work again, in a week or two, when I get back to New England for several days. Then, too, there will be stops in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee-and on to Texas, and my little family, if only for a weekend.

B and I compared notes. We have both pretty much blanketed the United States and have been to a smattering of other countries. Our far-flung family has made its presence known in just about every country where there is a French diaspora. We each have Irish blood, so that, too, has given us connections. My German ancestry also has ties to a good many parts of the world.

I won’t likely connect with every member of the brood, but it’s fun when connections do happen.