My mother's four uncles emigrated to Canada early in the twentieth century. Between them, three of the brothers produced at least forty four grandchildren. I have not yet established whether the fourth brother also produced a family. These are all second generation Canadians and are second cousins to me, and we have common ancestry from Irish great grandparents. The great majority still live in Canada, though one now lives in California and one in Hawaii and most had two or more children of their own and they in turn are now giving birth to a new generation of Canadians. I have known some of my second cousins throughout my life as my mother kept contact with some of her Canadian cousins, others I have only come to know in recent years thanks to the internet (we have our own group on Facebook) and there are some I have yet to know.
I never fail to marvel at their photos of large family groups, since here in Scotland my family has all but died out over the last decade. There is now only my wife Ann, who lives in a care home as she needs full time nursing following a series of strokes, my daughter from a previous marriage, who has bipolar disorder and lives a reclusive and lonely life, I have not seen her for over five years, though in fairness she does e-mail me quite regularly, and one much older cousin whom I last saw at my dad's funeral six years ago, she lives some distance away and is in failing health.
As my family here in Scotland has disappeared, the Canadian relatives have assumed much greater importance in my life.
It is remarkable how the family has thrived and multiplied in Canada while they have withered away in Scotland, is it something in the Canadian water?