How much info do you share with extended family?

sseamom
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 05:18:32 +0000

We have two very, very different sets of relatives. D’s cousins on her dad’s side are all in their 30’s and 40’s, and other than one second cousin her age, the rest are very young. But the family has a keen interest in D’s many accomplishments and college plans, as most of them did not go to college (H and his brother did, one sister has an AA). They do ask where she will be applying and are have mixed feelings about her interest in HBCU’s. Their older relatives left the south to escape segregation. But they’re very excited to see what she does with her life. They don’t really ask about GPA or SAT’s. That seems an unhealthy level of interest.

D’s cousins on my side are all older as well, except one. They’re either long done with college or already moving on with post-HS life. They too are more interested in the things D is doing than in where she applies. Her aunts and uncles are very different from me and ask if D knows that she is part white too and why would she go to a black college. So we don’t share much of anything about anything with them.

D belongs to a very supportive church and many of the members are grads of some of the schools D is looking at. Every year they have a special service celebrating the youth and their schools. They will be more involved than my own relatives in hearing her plans. And I expect we’ll need several entire rows at her graduation to fit all of H’s relatives and D’s church family.