How "distant" does a relative have to be for you to stop counting them as family? (Mormon, grandmother)
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For example, do you still consider 4th cousins as family? 6th cousins? How about 10th cousins?
I know they are still "technically" related, but sometimes I feel like calling a 10th cousin a family member is stretching it. On the other hand, a 4th cousin is obviously more closely related since it means our Great-Grandparents are 1st cousins, so I still consider them part of my family.
Where do you draw the line as far as considering somebody as family or a cousin?
I consider myself “related” to everyone that’s on my Ancestry list. However, if my parents know them, no matter how distant, I consider them family. So, like first cousins a few times removed up to 3rd cousin for me. My father is close to his cousins, so their kids and their kids’ kids are kind of where I draw the line. So, my dad has cousins who have kids who are in their late 20s-early 30s and they have kids. I have them in my tree and actively keep track of that, but much more then that, unless it’s a cool relationship (like the British royal family is super distant and I joke about them being cousins) I don’t consider them “family.” Yes, we are related, but no, we are not family.
I have 1st once removed and 2nd cousins I've never met. I had the same go to the same school as I did at the same time. The second cousins that lived a mile from my grandparents I saw regularly but the aunts, uncles, and cousins from hundreds of miles away I hardly knew.
We had family reunions when I was a kid but those ended when the older generation died off (you know, all the poker players). So I have distant memories of distant cousins, probably with a common ancestor four or maybe five generations back. Those people, or their kids, are popping up, more or less, in my DNA cousin list. I say "Welcome Home!". Beyond that I am at a loss on how we might be related - so they are not actually "fami!y" but distant relatives. My actual family is tiny - one brother - so I'm a bit expansive on "family" because you never know when you will need a kidney.
I think it depends on what kind of personal relationship you have with them. Since childhood, I have had regular contact with some 3rd cousins that my family are the closest extended family that they have. Therefore they are family to me.
I too have a small family and genealogy is interesting so I'm happy to hear from distant cousins, especially if they have family photos to share so I can look for family resemblances.
Recently had email convo with distant branch of family that moved out west and became Mormons (my family is 50% non-religious). Photos of them showed beautiful people, much better looking than anyone in my close family.
I have no first cousins due to no child-bearing aunts and uncles (2 priests, gay uncle, father only child trifecta) but my first cousins once-removed (my fathers cousins) have always been like older cousins. As long as distant cousins don't ask for money (or a kidney OMG) and are not KKK I'd like to know who they are. Send photos lol.
My grandmother was one of a dozen kids. We had big family reunions so I knew quite a few relatives. Once that generation died off, I lost ties with their families. I know my father's siblings and their children. However, I don't really like them. I consider them to be family in an abstract way, not as a real contact - like please don't show up at my door way.
Second cousins are too far removed. However, if they are nice, I wouldn't mind them as friends.
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