Long-Distance Connection

Celebrating a reunion that was 76 years in the making.

- Charlotte Valente

There is a quote that says, “Cousins are connected heart to heart. Distance and time can’t break them apart.” Truer words were never spoken in regard to my dad, Don Ray, and his cousin Alfred Ray. Last September, they saw each other for the first time in 76 years; the previous time, Alfred was only ten years old and my dad was 12. They didn’t know it at the time, but a lifetime would pass before they’d set eyes on each other again.

Although they both grew up in British Columbia, my dad was raised in Mission, while Alfred grew up in Fort Fraser, about 840 kilometres away. Life was different 76 years ago; not like today, when you can easily phone or text someone who lives far away.