This evening I had a wonderful conversation with a distant cousin of mine who called me from California. My grandmother and her father were siblings, so I guess we're second cousins? Maybe first cousins once removed? She had been raised in JW's and left over 20 years ago. I knew my great uncle had been a Witness, but I never really knew his kids. When grandmother died in May, I asked around to see if anyone had called to tell their cousins that their aunt (my grandmother) had died. My mom said "no, they're all disfellowshipped." So last week I took it upon myself to locate one of the 4 sisters via the Internet. She was floored that no one had contacted them about their aunt. I apologized and said well, you know the JW thing. I heard from another one of the sisters tonight and it was so cool to meet her via the phone. She's coming to Texas in April for a wedding so I will get to meet her.
Kind of cool, ain't it?