Knowing where you came from

I received the following email today from a cousin I haven't even met:

I am your cousin.
I am going to do a relationship chart to show you how we are related:

James and Bessie Dixon
children:
Miriam =Sisters=Bessie
Michael =1st cousins= Jacqueline
Anthony = 2nd cousins= John
Angel =3rd cousins= Lauren

I just wanted to contact you because we are cousins and we are the same age. you were born in Feb. and I was born in April. Just give me a call so we can stay in touch.

all this time I was thinking that I didn't have any cousins who were the same age as me, and then I find out that I actually do and not only that, we used to live practically around the corner from each other! He's been researching his family lineage for ten years now; his father is my grandmother's cousin. Apparently, he can trace our family back to Norfolk, Virginia in the late 19th century. This is very exciting and it makes me want to learn more about my family's history; I only know bits from talking to the older relatives and from my own research on my great-grandmother's life.

He's coming to DC in a few weeks, so we'll actually be able to meet face to face.

This will be continued...what a way to end the night...