I have 3 cousins that I lost touch with almost 40 years ago. I've recently re connected with one of them, soon to connect with the other two. This is a pic of the daughter of one cousin and the son of another cousin. The girl, Kati, like me is a rat person (what are the odds of that?), she had asked if I had any extra ones so we took 4 up to let her decide. This pic was taken right after she picked one out.
The importance of this probably won't matter to most people, but I've spent the last 40 years completely out of touch with my biological family, my step sister doesn't want me to exist, so being with people who have the same DNA means a lot to me.

I think that is pretty cool GMS!

Yes, I think so.

I like the story about the rat GMS. Your right; what art the odds. Bet you her favorite movie is Ben. lol

Thanks for sharing the story GMS.

I've heard rats are very intelligent, clean, and personable little creatures.

Glad to hear you were able to reconnect with some of your family after all those years. (Gotta love how crazy family dynamics can get sometimes, but as you showed, even 40 years isn't too late!)

The boy already looks like you

Rat are all of those and more, they're my favorite pet. I have over 35 of them.

Except i had my beard at his age.

I've never seen that or Willard, they malign rats and give them a bad name. I take one with me as often as possible to improve their bad reputation. I just dropped out of my small group at church because someone griped all the time, even when we were all at a public park.

THose movies did have the rats pretty mean but very very smart! I can't imagine anyone caring if you have a rat with you, unless you try to put it on them, what's the problem! I had a friend who used to go around with her Chinese Dragon lizard on her shoulder...I never heard anyone complain about her having it.

congratulations on getting back with family!

I understand that some people don't like them, some people like tarantulas but I don't. I would never even get close to someone who has problems with them. I know how everybody in that group feels, everybody is cool with except for one person, who happens to be the leader's wife. Her reason is that Sian will 'be a distraction' during bible study. I ask, how can a tiny animal that will sit on my shoulder for hours at a time and not move or make a sound, because they don't have a 'voice' be more of a distraction than the dogs, squirrels, and other people there? But this isn't why I posted the pic, not to gripe, rather to celebrate a happy event.

My sister had an albino rat and it lived for several years before it finally died a couple of years ago (my nephew's rat but he lost interest not long after getting him). My sister really liked that rat.

Friends come and go as you each grow in different directions moving on to new adventures through your journey... thus losing contact with each other.

But DNA family is a life-time forever bonding that is so precious.
So glad for you Gms9810 with what is to come in the future due to this reunion... and all else that you discover you all have in common with each other.
Art??? Gimp???

I'm not a rat person though...

The ratio is one to thirty. A year old rat is like a 30 year old person. 3 years is about a normal lifespan. my most beloved one died the 4th of july last year. She was 4 1/2.