Cousin network

Over recent years the family Cousin network has been getting quieter and quieter, but when needed, it can spring into action with surprising speed.

My mum rang me on Saturday morning, asking if I knew my cousin's (let's call him cousin J) phone number. His parents' house in Stockport had been broken into on Friday night, and the car and my auntie's phone had been stolen, along with their only record of J's mobile number. I only had an old number for him, so I rang cousin S, who said she would sms it to me if she had it. S had a DIFFERENT old number for J, so she rang her sisters, M and Y. Y had mobile number 3 for J, again out of use, so their brother L gets a phone call. L was at his parents' house so they had to tell his mum what had happened. His mum promptly rang my auntie. Meanwhile my parents were at my auntie's house waiting for the police. In the end we failed to get hold of J on the phone, but he still turned up at my auntie's after all. Facebook can be amazingly useful.

My auntie and uncle are fine by the way, though a bit shaken, they were sleeping upstairs whilst burglars were rummaging around downstairs. They also had their little toddler grandson in the room next to them upstairs, and somehow that makes it even scarier.

When it comes to gossip, the cousin network can be remarkably efficient as well, especially when our mums help out with the spreading of news.