Cousinhood Connections

As often happens when I get up in the morning, sipping my first cup of coffee and feeling my brain cells stretching and yawning, I sit and stare somewhat mindlessly at my fireplace and surrounding bookcases. Not that there’s any reason to sit and stare at them. It just gives my eyes a place to rest at that particular time.

I’m very grateful for the luxury during these retirement years to leisurely sit and slowly wake up as, unlike my husband Dean, who was wide awake and energized the moment he sat up in bed and then touched his feet to the floor, I find it almost painful if I must rush through that first cup of coffee.

At any rate, I digress. One of the abovementioned leisurely mornings last week, I was sitting there thinking about my mom and dad, and in particular, Mom's cousin—and then my cousins—and then my sons’ cousins. The question that surfaced in my mind was description of relational levels.

Using my mother for an example: she was the eldest grandchild on both sides of her family, her maternal side of the family consisting only of she and her younger sister as grandchildren. No first cousins there.  However, on her father’s side, he had two siblings with progeny.

Thus appeared my first question: were my mother’s first cousins my second cousins or were they my first cousins, once removed? And what degree of cousinhood were the children of my mother’s first cousins to her? And to me?

Googling “cousinhood degrees” I clicked on a promising-looking link and read what was, to me at least, a rational answer to my question. Family Tree Magazine posted this statement, “All cousins share a common ancestor.” So you figure out your relationship from that common ancestor.

My mother and her first cousin, Virginia Lee shared common ancestors, namely their grandparents

The cousinly “removes” enter the picture when two relatives don’t have the same number of generations between them and their most recent common ancestor. One generation difference equals one remove.

Therefore, my mother’s first cousin, Virginia, is my first cousin, once removed since I’m one generation further distant from our common ancestor (her grandparents). However, Virginia’s son, Larry, is my second cousin because we are an equal number of generations distant from our common ancestors, Virginia’s and my mother’s grandparents.

I am probably the only one out there who has been confused on this issue. If that’s the case, go ahead and feel superiorJ

If we go back into ancestral lines far enough, we are all related. And as far as God’s family is concerned, we don’t have to go back as far as cousins. By accepting what Christ did on the cross and through His resurrection, we no longer need be under the curse of our sins and ensuring death. Acceptance of His gift of salvation puts us into the family of God—that means we have lots of brothers and sisters. (Who needs cousins?)