I have 16 first cousins on the maternal side of my family; they all live in Kansas. I have no idea how many second cousins I have1.
I’d probably know my second cousins better, or at least be able to match them up with their parents, if I actually lived in Kansas and were able to attend all the family whingdings that happen back there. Alas, that’s not my current lot.
A while back, we received a wedding invitation from a second cousin who is tying the knot in Kansas City MO a couple of weeks hence. Her dad, my first cousin, is the closest to my age of any of the rest of the first cousins. He also called our Norton KS homestead within hours of my mother’s death in 1999 and offered his immediate condolences. If I recall correctly, he was also a casket bearer at Mom’s funeral.
So, I went out to his daughter’s and soon-to-be son-in-law’s wedding registry. They are registered at Sears and at Crate & Barrel. Many of their choices were practical and formulaic; the bathroom items, wine glasses, cooking accoutrements and gizmos. All perfectly practical. All needed. Then I happened on this, from the Sears registry, a Craftsman Professional 12 ton Hydraulic Jack.
As I bought the almost newlyweds their Craftsman Professional 12 ton Hydraulic Jack, I pondered how MLB and I have made it through nearly 30 years without such a thing. The discussion of whether or not we need one is ongoing.
Best wishes to Lindsey and Doug. I consider him a second cousin; is the spouse of the child of a first cousin also a second cousin? In my little world, it is so.
-k-
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