Day 28: Ties that Bind

It's taken way too long - 40-something years - for us to have lunch together, just the two of us.

Our parents are close, have always been close; somehow, though, we have skirted each other's periphery, catching glimpses of each other at anniversaries and birthdays but mainly at funerals.

Then she emailed me, and that's all it took.

My cousin Sharon and me. We chat a couple of times a week through email and we have far more in common than we might have guessed. Who knew that such a treasure was within grasp for all of these years?

It makes me wonder what else is in my view but not in my sights, gifts that I have been too busy or too preoccupied to notice, and to pick up, and to revel in.

While I plan to consider more closely each day all that has been given me, I don't plan to let this particular present of friendship and family slip out of my grasp. I don't really know any of my cousins all that well - growing up in India can do that to a person, I guess! - so I am going to make up for lost time with this one.

And I have to thank Reading the Leaves for this unexpected windfall: Sharon tracked me down through the Leaves ...

How many more gifts have been tucked into the wrapping of the TH, waiting for me to discover? I love this place and all that goes with it.

And I love my cousin Sharon.