Congratulations are in order!

I just got an email that my cousin earned his PhuD. Congratulations, Coz!

Depending on your definition, and given lots of blended and confusing family stuff, I have around 25 first cousins, and uncountable second and third cousins.

Of my 25 first cousins, three of us have doctorates (that I know of; I've lost touch with a couple, and never met one set), another has a masters.

None of us is perfect, but most of us enjoy each other and get along well when we're around each other. My sibling and I are (at this point), the furthest living from the family center, pretty much, but on one side, the others see each other fairly often for get togethers of various sorts.

Most of us are decent, kind, caring people.

When I miss home, it's the sense of having lots of family around that I miss, the sense that I could take a drive and have dinner or whatever with some relative. When I was at the urban regional university, back to school after an absence, I used to try to arrange my schedule so I could drop in on one cousin for a chat, and then go just about across the street and meet my Dad for lunch at my grandmother's place one day a week. On other days, I could drop in for tea and a chat with either, or stop to have dinner with one of my aunts. And then I'd drop in on my other grandmother on the way home. Sometimes I'd go to the shop (the family business) to have lunch with my Dad, uncle, or grandfather; I worked at the shop myself at times, and would get to see my aunts when they dropped in to see their brothers or dad.

So now my Cuz has his phud! I wish I were there to celebrate with the rest of the family!