I’ve lost a sister and a brother; both were old enough to be my parents when I made my entry into the world. They were adults before I ever knew them and as a result, they were mostly strangers.
I tried to get close to my brother but he resented me — guilt by association, because “my dad took his mother away from his dad.” And it doesn’t matter that I was still seven or eight years away from coming to Earth. He died of pancreatic cancer many years later.
My sister, I had better luck knowing. We pretty much bonded on her birthday in 1980, and were friends until she died. But we were not “close friends.” And she died in her sleep a few years ago.
So I’m always empathetic when people lose a family member, no matter how close or far apart they were.
My brother and I are not close, but we are much friendlier than Mom and Aunt Ruth were.
Kathleen was asking me if she has cousins, and she does, but they are all at least 20 years older than she is.