Despite growing up with an extraordinarily large number of relatives on my father's side, it has been many, many years since I have seen most of them. I knew that one of my cousins was living near New York City and despite not having seen her for quite a few years, thought it would be nice to catch up with her if we could arrange it. Soon after our arrival in Oakville, I set about trying to contact cousin Wendy. When we finally made contact, Wendy was quite pleased to hear from me and offered that we all come to visit after we left our accommodation in the Big Apple.

Wendy, her husband Willy and children Tania and Erik live in Katonah in Westchester county, about 40 minutes north of New York City. This part of the world could almost be considered rural, with beautiful timber homes, many set on acreage's, its hard to believe we were so close to one of the busiest cities on earth.

From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with warmth and hospitality and many stories were shared about where our lives have taken us over the past 25 or so years. The weather was still quite warm, so a good deal of our time was spent in or around the pool or sitting overlooking the pool drinking wine and enjoying meals together.

There is something special about being related to somebody... Something which perhaps connects you in a subtle yet tangible way. Meeting Wendy and her family after so many years was indeed a wonderful serendipity of this exchange to Canada and definitely a highlight of our trip to New York City.