An aside from looking at all these pictures: I am reminded of two times in my life that I actually cried after meeting some family members.

First, I hadn't seen my aunt (my dad's sister) in about ten years during the 80's/early 90's. We were close when I was a kid and I truly adore this woman (she'd tell stories about her and my father as they grew up in tough neighborhoods that enthralled me and she was always hugging and kissing me). Well, I saw her at my nephew's wedding in 1991 for the first time in 10 years and when she saw me she cradled my face and softly said my childhood nickname (which VERY few people know or call me) and I lost it... I couldn't stop crying as we hugged each other.

Second was my great aunt Julia (I am reminded of this by looking at the picture of my great grandmother above). Julia was my grandmother's younger sister, and my mother's favorite aunt. (She lived upstate New York); I'd see her at big family functions as a kid but I'd rather play with all my cousins so I really didn't know her well (much to my regret now). Well, the last time I saw her was at some family function and I was "grown-up" (so I didn't look to run off with all my cousins ), and she came up to me, took my face in her hands, looked at me with eyes that only a family member with the same blood running through their veins could and asked, "You're D******'s baby?". I nodded "yes" and couldn't tear my gaze away from this unbelievably loving face. I started crying, knowing that I was "home".

If nothing else comes from this thread, it'd all be worthwhile if just one of you sits down with a family elder, asks some questions about your past and share some good memories.