Removals 101

First, representatives of Fin Family Moominbeach G2, G3, and G4:

So, the question was asked about all those once, twice, and thrice removed cousins, et al. Ninth cousin seven times removed? Yes, I do understand all that stuff, thanks to my uber cousin, the Grand Poohbah, of prime number sieve fame.

Take Fin Family Moominbeach, just for example. First, there were my grandparents. They’re G1 (generation 1) and they had four kids, including my dad and Radical Betty, and those four kids are/were G2.

Then we get to my generation. That would be G3. There are 11 of us and because we share a pair of grandparents, we are all first cousins. Except that some of us are siblings with each other of course, but that just complicates the explanation for the moment.

So then my generation (G3) started having kids. There are, lemme see, 15 of those. I think. Hope I’m not forgetting anyone. I may be. I am toadily roto right now from being on the I75 SUV Speedway toady today. Gas price crisis anyone? Hello? Anyway, our kids represent generation G4 and, since they share a pair of great-grandparents, they are all second cousins. (Except for those who are siblings or first cousins but we won’t go there for now. Okay? Okay.)

Finally (whew!), we get to the *next* generation, G5. That generation represents the grandchildren of my generation, G3, and when/if all of us first cousins have grandchildren, our grandchildren will be third cousins with each other. Why? Because they all share a pair of great-great-grandparents, of course! Get the pattern here? As it stands, there is only one of us first cousins who has any grandchildren (nine, including a set of triplets!) so you’ll just have to imagine this for now. The current kids of G5, since they share a pair of grandparents, are first cousins to each other.

I’m gonna stop for now. I know, I know. I didn’t get to the removals yet. That’s too much for one day. Especially from somebody who is toadily roto and therefore lucky to be able to count up to 10 at the moment. We’ll get there. Maybe even tomorrow. That is, unless a whole beachful of fish flies is hiding in my vee-hickle somewhere waiting to smother me or whatever it is they do. Without The Commander and her infamous broom, I’m not sure how to defend myself against them.

One Response to “Removals 101”

  1. Dog Mom Says:

    Ya! Those “removals” start coming into play when you’ve got cousins looking at a generation *different* from their own (i.e., G3 cousins looking at their relationship to G2 or G4 cousins). AND the relationships of the various Gx grandparents get mixed into the confuzzlation. So… I don’t blame you for stopping for a breather where you did 😉 [brave to have ventured even that far LOL]

    Roight, KW?