First Cousin, Second Cousin, Second Cousin-Twice Removed… WHAT?! We Explain the Difference in an Easy Way!

There are so many jokes like the picture above around, but these don’t help us understand all the confusion about the relationship between family members do they?! I heard someone once call it “the degree of cousin-ness” once … which of course was funny at the time, but very true when you think about it! For example, if a random bloke walked up to you while you are out and about and said “G’day mate! How’s it going? I’m actually related to you, you are my 3rd cousin, twice removed!” Would you actually know what he meant? Would you actually know where, and what the actual connection was?

Well we thought we might write up a quick and simple examination to help you understand it easily and more clearly!

So without doubt you all know the basic meaning of cousins, or 1st cousins just being the children of your parent’s siblings, your aunts and uncles… Well one step further than that is of course is your 2nd cousins… 2nd cousins as some of you may know are the people in your family who have the same Great-Grandparents, but not the same grandparents!

Your 3rd cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, 4th have the same great-great-great-grandparents and so on.

But where does the ‘removed’ part come in? And what does that mean?

Well, the removed put simply just means they are in a different generation to you. For example, your 1st cousin once removed is one of your parents’ first cousins! Simple?

So this means your 1st cousins, twice removed are your grandparents’ first cousins.

Still not getting it? Or want it more easily explained? Here’s a little diagram we have created to help!

An absolutely great way to solidify this information in your mind is to use examples!

So! Here’s a quick example for you! (You can switch your own family members for example names used if you like!)

OK, so Amanda and Sam are 1st cousins. They have the same Grandparents, no ‘removed’ needed.

Indiana and Crystal are 2nd cousins. They have the same Great-Grandparents, no ‘removed’ needed.

But Amanda and Crystal are 1st cousins, once removed!

Sam and Jack are 1st cousins, twice removed!

Does this make sense to you? Did this help at all? We would love to hear your thoughts!

We hope this helps you!

❤ Aimee & Bev!

I met my grandfathers babysitter 11 years after he passed away!

As we grow up our parents tell us not to talk to strangers, and although when we are children this is an important safety measure. I believe this is not a trait we should keep into adulthood.  You can have truly amazing moments in life if you open the doors and let people enter your life, they may start out strangers but then as you get to know them things change and you may have an incredible experience like the one I had the pleasure of recently, and find out they aren’t really strangers at all!

I was lucky enough to have had the amazing experience of meeting  a sweet and kind old lady by the name of Eileen (I don’t want to give her full name for privacy, family contact me personally for details). In general conversation she found out my family were local to the area and we got talking about who they were. I told her who my grandparents were and she asked enquiringly “Did he have a brother by the name of Rex and a sisters named Dawn and Betty?” I replied a little shocked “Yes!”. We continued to chat and we confirmed that we were talking about the same person! She revealed she used to babysit my grandfather when he was a toddler! I had met my grandfathers babysitter! This was truly a very emotional experience which bought me to tears 11 years after his passing.

My grandfather, Neil Crouch was one of the most amazing, kind, caring and inspiring men I had ever known.  So when he passed away in 2002 when i was only 17 , I was absolutely devastated, as was our entire family. The overwhelming out-poor of love and support received from his many friends and extended family, from across the whole of Australia was so very appreciated, and it serves as a testament of how loved he was. So you can imagine my emotional state while talking to Eileen about my grandfather who had passed away from cancer many years ago.

Eileen proceeded to tell me about how adorable he was as a baby, and how she used to get excited when she saw his mum coming down the road on their horse and cart (they both lived on farms outside a small regional town in New South Wales, but relatively close to each other).  Her eyes lit up as she explained how huge the mare they had was, and how it was almost put down because none of the horse handlers could keep her under control, and everyone kept clear of her stall in the stables. However apparently his mother, my great grandmother Kathleen Crouch who was the tiniest woman around had complete control of her, and with her the huge mare was extremely well behaved and was very loyal to it’s family. She said my great grandmother although she was a very small lady in size, she was a very strong and proud woman, who easily handled this “uncontrollable” mare as well as 4 young children everyday.  She went on telling me many stories of him, his siblings and mother when he was merely a baby & toddler!

This was such a rewarding experience, and when I got home I immediately called my mum (Bev, our Ancestry Researcher) about what I had just heard about her father. She immediately broke down in tears and thanked me. Finding out these kinds of family stories are more emotional than you expect them to be, you just need to watch an episode or two of “who do you think you are?” to realise the potential for finding out some fantastic details about your family’s history, and it’s absolutely worth it!

Open those doors and be kind! It will get you further in life than being secluded and withdrawn, life will be so much more fulfilling!

You never know who you may meet, or what you might find out about others or even yourself or your family, you never know when strangers aren’t really strangers at all!

Father’s Day Gift!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there!

I’m here at my parent’s place this father’s day, so dad was very happy with his hug first thing in the morning! 🙂 However he got up so early and cooked his own breakfast so i wasn’t able to surprise him with a father’s day brekkie! Damn! Next year! hehe

In our family, today is also my mum and dad’s 29th wedding anniversary as well! A big congratulations to them! Happy anniversary mum and dad! 🙂

What a fantastic idea it is to have a day dedicated to our fathers and grandfathers, and all the fathers in our family circles really! They deserve it! Especially if your dad is as great as mine is! But often we don’t know what to get them for this special occasion. What a great idea it would be to give your father or grandfather their family tree and the stories of his family members who have passed as a gift for Father’s Day! Does your dad or grandfather have a favourite relative but only had half stories because they passed away well before you were ready to let them go?

What a unique and precious gift that would be! In fact I’ll have to make sure we offer a special discount every year for father’s day!

Signing off for now,

❤ Aimee