Kin Folk

Kin.

Short for Kindred?

As in...kindred spirits? Hmmm...

I struggle to find the right words to describe the focus of today's post.

This crew is half to blame...


My beautiful aunties (L to R and Top to Bottom: Kathy, Peggy, My Mom, Uncle Paul's wife, Chris, Lynda, and Laura)...

The other half (to blame) was not photographed because they were tending to the meat on the grill. If they were photographed, they would look something like these people, only OLDER...


So the focus of today's post? No, the people above are not random people I met at the local pizzeria...they are MY (trumpet sound)....(drum roll)...COUSINS (L to R: Me, My Brother, Tony, My Uncle Brian's Kids, Jacqueline and Nicholas, and My Aunt Becky's Kids, Allison and Ashley...Not Pictured? My brother, Rusty and my other cuz, Em) OK...I'll make this a little easier on you. Let's switch to the other side of the family (since I look nothing like the Willemsens)...


Now do you see it (My Aunt Peggy with her two daughters, Al and Mal and Me and Lil)? I think its the nose...the hair? and maybe the eyes...and most definitely...THE ATTITUDE...OK...here's another one of those Mooney ladies (remember that mama looking crew at the top of the post)...


You can spot us a mile away (Me and My Aunt Laura's daughter, Laurie). There are several others floating around the photographer, but I managed to get ZERO more pics...but I think you get my point...

It's strange. I am not super close to any of my cousins since I moved away so young, but I always manage to feel CONNECTED in a way that is not describable. A sense of pride runs through my veins as I cross the Wayne County line and know that I am now in KIN Turf. A place where people know my name...even if they don't know me. Fortunately for me, I have enough of my grandpa Ike on my dad's side that I can still be identified as one of THEM even though I look nothing like the Willemsen Cuz Crew...

And as we get older, the dynamics begin to layer and intertwine in a way that is just beautiful and peaceful and as it should be.

My kids with my cousins (Peggy's daughters, Al and Mal, with Tate and Lily)...


And my cousin's kid (Allison's daughter Jade pictured with GG)...


All perfectly CONNECTED. And from the looks of it, the tradition will live on (even longer than Grandma's couch...pictured below Ashley's daughter, Skylar, with Tate and my nephew, AJ).


P.S. Special thanks to Mims and GG for the setting of these pics :)