knowing my family

Knowing my family on my mom's side is a lesson in Math.  Seven aunts and uncles is a tough thing to memorize when you're a kid. I'm in my 30's now and I'm still reviewing when I have a mini family reunion. Something my parents instilled in me when I was younger.  The thing is, there's so many of them that each aunt or uncle has a number associated with them. Well, the middle few has numbers, the rest are associated with big or small and a few we referred to their English names. To a little kid, remembering names and people was a bit confusing. I'd review their names if you like, but I'm sure you don't want to be confused.

Mini extended family reunion.

I always had problem with remembering my aunts or uncles position in the family.  My parents would be reviewing in the car with me on who would be at the family get together and to call their names when I saw them. It was a big deal because we saw them at least once or twice a year. The problem was that when I got out of the car, I quickly forgot each aunt and uncles names.  As soon as we entered the door of their houses, I went and did a quick mumble of some rather suspicious name calling and went off to play with the other kids. As I got older, I succeeded in calling my aunts and uncles by their correct names, but I still had to think about it.

Then there are my cousins. They are probably the easiest names to remember. As we got older, we haven't stayed as close as we were when we were younger. Most of us are now married or live in different parts of the US or like me living in Taiwan. We still keep up with the occasional family birthday email each month or sometimes chat on Facebook. But I definitely would like to catch up with each cousin as they had a part in shaping my childhood.

The Kids