the good

Last week, I got an e-mail from my cousin M, which is my only boy cousin, the second of four grandchildren on my father's side (my brother and I are #3 and #4 on both sides), whom I never see, telling me he was going to be in town and it would be great if we could get together and catch up. Yay! And after much effort and partial communication, he showed up at my building tonight, and with him was his nine-and-a-half-year-old daughter! Whom I haven't seen, you understand, since she was two. And she popped right up and gave me a big hug. What a sweet kid. Forgot my name twice, but dude, as far as she's concerned I'm almost entirely random. I don't know if I was hugging random cousins of my parents' when I was nine and a half.

Took a picture. Sent it to my dad. He will be very pleased (he takes his role as patriarch fairly seriously - even though technically I suppose the patriarch should be his uncle, of whom he has one still living on each side, so hrm).