California Cousin

My father's family moved to California when I was about 6 months old. He stayed behind in Virginia while my grandfather, grandmother, and my father's two older brothers and his younger sister headed west.

I grew up not really knowing that side of the family. I never met my father's younger sister, who passed away a few years ago. I have cousins out there I don't know and probably will never meet.

My grandparents were people who visited with years in between - people who sent me presents at Christmas and infrequent voices on the phone. While I tried to change that when I became an adult with a lot of letter-writing to my grandfather, distances like that can be difficult to overcome.

My cousins out in California knew my grandparents much better than I ever could have. They saw them more frequently and spent lots of time with them. That side of the family has different experiences than I did.

So anyway, my first cousin, Steve, and his wife, Lisa, came out this past week for a visit. They went to the beach with my father and stepmother, so I did not see much of them. But here are a few shots from our brief visit.

Steve's wife, Lisa. I had not met her before though we are Facebook friends and have had a few brief chats.

This is my 1st cousin, Steve. He is my father's oldest brother's son, i.e., "Uncle Ken's boy."
He worked for my father for a while back in the early 1990s and he and my husband
shared a passion for NASCAR, so I did get to know him a bit.

My father and my stepmother, Rita.

Steve and Lisa.

Lisa taking a funny photo of Steve wherein he has horns coming out of his head. She said he looked like Shrek
in the photo.

My father, my stepmother, and cousin, Steve. Can you see a family resemblance between my father and his nephew?

My father, Lisa, and Steve.