My brother (in the 'Thriller' shirt, haha!) and I with some of our Kowalski side cousins. Circa 1984ish.
I posted this photo on Facebook a couple of years ago, but I saw it in my "old family pics" photo album on the computer and I just had to make it part of my blog. I was pretty close with my cousins growing up. We saw each a lot for birthdays, holidays, baptisms, first communions, weddings, random visits, etc. I didn't have many cousins; four on my Dad's side and only one on my Mom's side. My husband, whose parents had more siblings than mine, has many MORE cousins, but he was never as close to them as I seemed to be with mine. I now have more appreciation for my cousins, for the 25 yr old inside jokes we share at holidays, and for the good-natured jesting we direct at our elders at family get-togethers. :)
I recently came into contact with a couple of Tony's 'cousins' through Ancestry.com. I say 'cousins' because they are not his plain-old first cousins as I was discussing above. I learned early on in my family tree research that figuring out the difference between first cousins, second cousins, removed cousins, etc. is tough! So, one 'cousin' with whom I exchanged emails is actually first cousins with Tony's DAD, so that means he is Tony's first cousin once removed, because one generation separates them. The other cousin is actually a first cousin of Tony's GRANDMOTHER, so she is Tony's first cousin twice removed because two generations separate them. Confused yet? Yeah, I thought so.
What about second cousins? Second cousins share the same great-grandparents, but not the same grandparents. So, for example, my mom has a first cousin named Ginger. Ginger is my first cousin once removed. Ginger's children, Tom and Steven, are my second cousins. Adele and Louis Licciardi were their great-grandparents AND my great-grandparents. Similarly, third cousins have common great-great-grandparents, and so on.
Because I am a very visual person, I found this chart helpful to understanding these relationships. (From Genealogy.com)
I recently came into contact with a couple of Tony's 'cousins' through Ancestry.com. I say 'cousins' because they are not his plain-old first cousins as I was discussing above. I learned early on in my family tree research that figuring out the difference between first cousins, second cousins, removed cousins, etc. is tough! So, one 'cousin' with whom I exchanged emails is actually first cousins with Tony's DAD, so that means he is Tony's first cousin once removed, because one generation separates them. The other cousin is actually a first cousin of Tony's GRANDMOTHER, so she is Tony's first cousin twice removed because two generations separate them. Confused yet? Yeah, I thought so.
What about second cousins? Second cousins share the same great-grandparents, but not the same grandparents. So, for example, my mom has a first cousin named Ginger. Ginger is my first cousin once removed. Ginger's children, Tom and Steven, are my second cousins. Adele and Louis Licciardi were their great-grandparents AND my great-grandparents. Similarly, third cousins have common great-great-grandparents, and so on.
Because I am a very visual person, I found this chart helpful to understanding these relationships. (From Genealogy.com)
So, pick one set of ancestors, start in the top left corner and label them "parents". Then, you can find the relationship between two of their descendants by seeing where the row and column meet for those two particular people. It takes a little practice to become comfortable with all of the terms and what they mean. But, in the end, it's kind of fun, especially if you are interested in genealogy.
©2012, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
©2012, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
