Keeping Close to Distant Relatives

Most people long to know what kind of people they come from, and keeping in contact with relatives you don't know very well can satisfy that hunger. Here are a few things you can do to grow closer to those to whom you are related:

• Do genealogy. The first thing you'll want to do, if you haven't already, is find the relatives to whom you wish to be close. Using genealogy, you can discover the relatives you have and also know to which part of the family tree they belong.
• Contact your distant relative. Next, you'll want to write letters to or e-mail him or her. Or, if you prefer, you may speak with this person on the phone. If the relative is more technologically inclined, you can use your webcam to communicate with each other. Take into account another option your relative may feel more comfortable using: an instant messaging program.
• Create traditions. If you use the webcam with your relative, you may wish to contact them weekly at a time convenient to both of you. You can do all manner of things together over a webcam, such as baking cookies, or having dinner. With a webcam, you can also record video messages and e-mail them to your relative. Some board and party games can be played over a webcam; others you can play over the Internet. If you use regular mail, you can still play chess, as many do. Any medium can be used to exchange ideas, such as recipes. There are other, physical, things you can exchange, like crafts and notebooks, serious and white elephant gifts.
• Take trips. This is the ultimate in keeping in touch with relatives, as you can take a trip to visit your relative any time you have vacation time. If you like, you can even build memories by taking a family history trip with your relative.

Side note: There are a few ways to converse with a person you don't know very well. Ask about their interests. Ask about their work or school life, such as any projects they're working on at the moment. Ask them about their friends, children, or church. Ask about their hobbies. There are many interesting aspects to explore in any given person; it only depends upon you to ask enough questions and/or observe enough about them that the interesting bits come through. However, a very important thing to remember is to not look like you're bleeding them for information, especially if they have a hush-hush government job.