Modern Hill Woman

Long Lost Cousins

People complain about how bad Facebook is. But for me, it has been a blessing. Years ago, during some health issues, I was homebound. Facebook let me stay connected to the world outside my house. I’ve found former classmates, kept up with community events, and stayed in touch with family. 

Through Facebook, I reconnected with some second cousins on the Huddleston side from Arkansas. We’ve been communicating and met briefly face-to-face.  I’ve invited them to Missouri and they’ve invited me to Arkansas. 

When we were invited once again, two of my sisters and I decided to meet with them and get to know them. We half-jokingly created a safe word to use in case they were crazy and we needed to make a quick getaway. They were crazy alright, but just the right kind of crazy, and a lot like our limb of the family tree. Apparently, those roots run deep. 

The day was spent in a cabin on the Eleven Point River. They had a beautiful spread of food that had taken hours to prepare. Food is obviously as important to their branch of the family as it is to ours. I was sent home with a tote of the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten in my life. My cousin later shared his recipe with me. 

We laughed, we ate, we told family stories, and we laughed some more. There was so much laughter that day. We all recollected stories of the past about aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents. 

My sister told them a story about their grandma (our aunt). It was sometime in the 1920s, and short hair had become the fashion. Our Aunt Mary wanted to cut her hair but her parents wouldn’t allow it. So, she wet a towel, wrapped it around her head, and lit the ends of her hair on fire. She didn’t cut her hair...she burned it and got a bob. 

Before parting that day, we told them about our safe word escape plan and had a good laugh about it. 

It’s amazing that a group of strangers spent a day together in a cabin and became family. 

They say the first friends that you have in your life are your cousins. If you’re lucky, they will be some of the best and last friends in the later part of your life.