We all gathered at my parents' place for lunch. The reason for their visit was to see my great-aunt and grandfather for what will likely be the last time, as neither of them are doing so well right now. My mom recently found a bunch of old photos while cleaning out my grandfather's house, so we spent a good part of today looking at the pics and talking about who was in them and how we're related.
I had brought along my family history book with the family tree map that I put together, but I was still thoroughly confused. My great-grandmother was married three times. She had three kids with her first husband, which is where these visiting cousins came from, and then she had four kids with her second husband, including my grandma. She's the relative we all have in common. She died when I was a kid, but I never got to meet her.
Anyway, I'm usually super interested in our family history and genealogy but I just found it all so frustrating today. My mom's family history is generally fascinating but it's so confusing! Some people were direct descendants of the first Spanish conquistadors to arrive in New Mexico, some were Native American, some were mixed. There were so many marriages and kids that it just makes it nearly impossible to keep track of everybody. Today a cousin announced for the first time that he has a half sibling no one knew about. Good grief.
Near the end of the visit, the family started talking about illnesses in the family and I realized that every person in the room had either had a heart attack or been the child of someone who had or died of a heart attack. My parents' generation seems so unhealthy. Everyone has cancer or heart disease. It's so upsetting.
Anyway, I got to meet a sweet two year old cousin for the first time today, and O had a blast playing with her, but that was the only highlight of the day. I'm feeling really bummed about my family, our crappy genes, and where I come from. Maybe I want to stop researching our history. Ugh.
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