Family Ties

My beautiful grandmother

This past weekend the whole family hopped a plane and landed in Houston to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday.  We spent four days catching up with family, eating homemade gumbo and watching the Whitney Houston funeral.  Everyone left with the intention of staying in touch but it made me wonder.  Is it possible to stay in touch with people you don’t see often and don’t know that well?

Now Grandma and I are close.  I’ve seen her more often over the course of growing up.  We used to write each other letters (remember when that was the preferred method of communication) and we talk on the phone.  We are as close as two people who live 1,000 miles apart can be.   My grandmother is the coolest 80-year-old I know.  She is a wealth of old school wisdom with enough spunk to still drive her new Chrysler 200 and  have wireless internet in her house.  I just love to sit wherever she is and listen.  The woman could have been a comedienne in a former life.

I also have an uncle, two aunts, a large number of cousins, their spouses and all of their children.  Being around all of my relatives left me with a feeling of camaraderie but no real connection.  We are all bound by blood as evidenced by the pictures that grace my grandmother’s home.  I could even remember summers spend in Texas as a kid.  But once we all grew up, life had a way of making us virtual strangers.

As we all know, relationships take time and effort to maintain.  My question is who has time?  Who has the time and energy to establish and maintain a real relationship (beyond Facebook) with relatives that you rarely see?  Is it worth it?

Any advice?  How do you keep in touch with long-lost relatives?