Sorry for the downer on WAC Friday, but I have something to say...one of the plentiful things that have been on my mind of late. I'm very, very sorry in advance...it's quite a downer.

Every now and then, I'm reminded of how much thicker blood is than water.

My mom's side of the family is kinda small. She had a sister and a brother. The brother's two children just about all of you have met or at least been in the same room with...my cousins Will and Julie.

My mom's sister and her family moved all over, ending up in Houston. The sister was my godmother, and I always felt close to her family, even though they lived way down in Texas and we rarely saw each other. My aunt kept us all well-tied together and informed. I wrote her letters and she'd write back all the time. But she passed away four years ago...while I was in Missouri, actually. When she died, I drove through the night to make it for her wake and funeral. From 1am (when I got out of work) to noon, when I arrived in Houston. That's how much she meant to me. This after my mom told me that everyone would understand if I didn't make it. But I did.

But over the years, even before her death, I'd felt more distant from my three cousins down there. That tends to happen: As people get older, they get busier. It just happens. There is also an age gap between myself and the three cousins that "complicates" matters. Not a huge one, but several years between myself and the youngest of the three. Never did I not like them or not love them, but the distance just seemed to grow larger, especially after I "yelled" at them via email for sending me forwards that I just didn't want, incessantly, repeatedly, but not having time to say even hello otherwise.

Well, at any rate...they all have kids now, and we got some really scary news a week or so ago. My cousin's little son (quite young...five?), who had had some eye trouble develop the last few months, was found to have a brain tumor. So he needed surgery, obviously...he had it, and things looked pretty OK, for having had brain surgery. But the pathology tests came back today, and it was found to be malignant. So now, my little cousin, a little boy, is going to have to have all this chemo and radiation treatment and everything. And that's only after he recovers from the surgery, which is no picnic and hasn't been thus far either...and he keeps roller-coastering in terms of his recovery.

But my point is, even though I barely know him, I sit here almost wanting to cry for the kid. I know that won't really help, which is why I don't actually feel like it will happen. But even through all the distance and the silence over the years, I feel horrible. Flat-out horrible, and all this just because it's family, even though family is so far off and out of touch. Rarely do I worry about things this much...but this is something that has been on my mind.

Please pray for him, if indeed you are the praying type. Otherwise, just think good thoughts in his direction. He's going to need it.