Yesterday I took the train to Luton to see Annie and Paul...and a lot of other visitors. Some of my relatives from Oxford, Ireland, and Australia were in town and since I had never met many of them before, Annie thought it would be a good idea to have a big family gathering.
If you know me at all, you are aware that I am not so great with new people. I get shy and stand there kind of awkwardly, but since I have been put in this situation numerous times (you know the situation where you are meeting a new cousin, aunt, or uncle), I have gotten a bit better about stepping outside my comfort zone and talking to the zed strangers. Annie and Paul went to Ireland last week and brought back my Uncle John, who is going to stay with them for a couple of weeks; John was the one familiar face yesterday. My cousins from Oxford (who I had never met before) drove down for the day because they know my cousins from Australia (who I had never met before). My cousin Shane, who is from Australia, seems to wear the shy and awkward crown that I used to wear. He was fine when he got to play with the other cousins his age but when it came to him talking to the adults, he was not having any of it.
When I told my friend about meeting my cousins she said to me, "Coming from a small extended family, I find it so cool that you have a life where you can say things like "I met a lot of new cousins." Your network seems infinite". Coming from an Irish Catholic family it seems as if there really are an infinite amount of cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Usually when you meet a family member for the first time it is because they are new, as in just born, well not in my family. The Rooney/Gilboy is infinite and I am truly lucky to have family all around the world.
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