fwd.....

ok, so i was heartened a few months back to get an email from my only 1st cousin on my mother's side of the family....she lives in cleveland....and as i have moved further and further since college and graduate school.....and my parents moved out of ohio altogether.....i have only seen her a handful of times in recent years....once, when she stopped by with her husband and kids on their way to disneyworld....and at my dad's funeral......her email was one of frustration...wanting to compare notes about aging parents...but since that initial volley...and the passing on of my email address to her parents....al i have hear from this clan begins with fwd: in the subject box......omg...i customarily delete forwarded everything......well, almost.....and though i did take the time to read the first few fwd's.....i now delete them as part of my morning routine......whatever happened to how are things going?...we are fine......i sent such an email as a reply to the first forward...and heard nothing in return.....which makes me sad......i haven't heard from my extended german family since the christmas letter....i am not surprised since edwin disclosed that he cannot walk far, and both he and anna are sick......i defer to my german relatives that i had to find years after my parents generation lost the,...it is in the failure to return letters that family is lost to us.....or in this case...in the sending of spam forwards added to the failure to answer actual notes of inquiry.....i makes me very, very sad......