The Day the Third Cousins Met on Zoom

Note: This blog is a follow-up to my post called Why I Wrote a Children’s Book. In this post, I’m sharing the behind-the-scenes of our Third Cousins Zoom—how it came together and what made it so special.

Two years ago, my cousin Amy had a wonderful idea: let’s bring together all of Gussie Abramowitz’s great-grandchildren. These cousins ranged in age from newborn to 15, lived up and down the East Coast, and in many cases had never met. We decided Zoom was the perfect way to make it happen—and of course, I was recruited to organize it.

My prior teacher training immediately went into planning mode. I knew we needed structure, a time limit, and something to make it feel special.  Here are some optional ideas that I did incorporate:

• The invitation: I designed one on a free site so families could print it out. I used Greetings Island https://www.greetingsisland.com/
• Word Art:  I created a word art tree with all of the cousins’ names on it.  I used that tree as an image on the invitation.  I used WordArt https://wordart.com/
• The geography game: I found a map of the East Coast online and then added colored dots showing where each child lived  I then made a key to go along with the map.  The key was grouped by state with each child’s name.
• The family connection: I put together a mini-PowerPoint to show how each cousin fit into Gussie’s family tree using the word art, family tree, and the map I created above.
• An Ancestor Story – I created a short story about Gussie since all of the cousins descended from her.  See my Blog “Why I Wrote A Children’s Book“

On the big day, the “plan” met reality. People arrived early, late or in batches, and the kids’ enthusiasm quickly took over. Some were shy; others could have talked for hours. We went past the planned 15 minutes, but I stepped in when conversations began to overlap too much.

One of my favorite moments was watching who naturally stepped up to be a leader—helping the younger kids, asking questions, and keeping the conversation going. It was also heartwarming to see the grown-ups quietly smiling in the background, soaking it all in.

In the end, we only held one Third Cousins Zoom (busy schedules and wide age ranges made it tricky to repeat), but it was absolutely worth it. The kids got a glimpse of their extended family, the parents got to witness new connections forming, and we all walked away feeling a little more connected.

If you ever think about organizing a family Zoom across generations, my advice is simple:

1. Keep it short. Kids have limited attention spans.
2. Make it interactive. Maps, family trees, or photos give them something to respond to.
3. Stay flexible. The best moments are often unscripted.

It might not go exactly as planned, but that’s part of the fun—and the memories will last far longer than the Zoom call itself.