Pencil, watercolor, & pastel
12″x14″
2009
Oh, I hope I can get this description right (and I know I won’t, but?……)….
I KNOW that Claire (whom I like very much and consider quite good-looking) is the daughter of the godmother (Francoise Briggant) of Herve’s younger brother, who (Francoise, not Herve’s brother) also happens to be the longtime best friend of Herve’s mother. Claire’s brother is married to the granddaughter of Herve’s maternal great-aunt, Yvonne Chancellier. Herve’s parents met at the wedding of their respective older siblings and married afterwards. Hence, all of his aunts and uncles and cousins are both paternal and maternal in relation to the current generation.
I could go on and on, trying to explain the multiple ways (there are more than I’ve just cited) everyone I ever meet on our visits to France (at least the member of Herve’s family) is related to everyone else, but suffice it to say that they’re usually related in at least two different ways. Surprisingly enough, they’re all smart, nice-looking, and have the normal number of toes and fingers…..they just happen to be cousins by several different connections/means.
Once we’re back in the USA and I begin downloading photographs, Herve inevitably has to listen to questions such as “Okay, now I know that ‘Mami’ is the daughter-in-law of great-aunt Yvonne Chancellier, but she’s also the mother of the Briggant’s daughter-in-law,who is ALSO the________ of _______”.
Herve always replies that it’s just easier to assume that everyone is a cousin of everyone else you meet…. and forget about parsing out the connections. I’m sure he’s right. I’ve had the same feeling when visiting folks in Savannah and Richmond.