What do you say to a long lost relative? In a few days, I'm going to find out for myself. My birth uncle and his wife are coming to Ohio to visit family in Darke County. This is an annual trip for them, but this year their travels will bring them a bit farther south to Greene County.
It kind of feels like I'm preparing for a first date or a job interview; get my hair cut, shave, polish my shoes, clean the toilets. Or perhaps, maybe more of an arranged marriage, of sorts. Kind of like, "here are your new family members...deal with it!" At least if you bomb on a first date or botch a job interview, you usually don't have to see the other party ever again. With family, this isn't necessarily the case (at least not in semi-functioning families.)
I don't anticipate any problems, but there is a certain level of anxiety associated with such meetings and/or reunions. Truth be told, we've lined up a number of "dates" over the next few weeks they're in town and I am trying to go into this without any expectations. I'm eager to learn about my late birth mother and plan to hopefully record some stories. I'm also excited to meet this "new" part of my extended family and will be taking plenty of pictures to post. From what I've gathered through our email exchanges and Facebook stalking, we have as many things in common as we don't. Which is awesome, because I think meeting people with diverse interests is what life is all about. And I don't think hanging out with people exactly like me would be very enjoyable.
