Slice of Life Day 17~ Connecting and Reconnecting

For the month of March I will be participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge hosted at Two Writing Teachers.  It will be a busy month of writing and commenting with this community.  

I am looking forward to a very unexpected trip and it isn't where I am going that has me so excited, it's who I am going with and why!

You see, just this summer I was prusing my Facebook wall and noticed a friend request from two of my aunts that I had not seen since I was about 10 years old! After I accepted the friend requests I immediately saw another request. This request was really puzzling, I didn't know the name, but I noticed we had mutual friends in my aunts and my mom so I accepted.

This is where the story really begins, the request was from Katyana, who turned out to be a cousin I never  know existed. This was unbelievable... Katyana is the daughter of my favorite uncle and my ONLY female cousin. After a few direct messages Kat and I transferred our conversation to the phone. Kat's story is fascinating.  She had been researching our family history in an effort to locate her father who she hadn't seen since she was a year old. Unfortunately, her dad passed away before she could reconnect. the passing of her father left Kat feeling defeated but she also found she had a BIG family waiting and ready to welcome her.

Our conversations grew and Katyana and her husband were on their way to meet me and my family.  The visit was amazing, I felt like I had grown up with Kat.  Listening to my dad and his brother share stories of their childhood and memories of Kat's father was like living in another time.  The sparkle in my dad's eyes and the flush in his cheeks were something I had not seen in quiet sometime.  Dad and his brother laughed for hours as they shared stories of their ornery childhood.

It was amazing to see the family resemblance in Kat, she looked just like her dad and her uncles.  The visit was amazing and all too short.

So…in just a few days Katyana will be returning to Ohio and we will be taking a road trip! My family, my uncle and my cousins are taking a trip back to where my dad grew up to connect and  reconnect with family!