While we’re on the subject of tests of knowledge, I thought I would mention another one that came up for me recently. My parents were visiting to help us with the new baby and my mom asked me a couple of questions about my wife’s side of the family while Heather was asleep. I thought about it for a minute and determined that the best way for me to answer the questions would be to draw Heather’s family tree (starting with her grandparents).
I was able to draw the tree on her dad’s side with little difficulty, though I couldn’t remember the name of one of her cousins. Her mom’s side was a little hazier mostly because we have had less interaction with them. I got her aunts and uncles but I wasn’t able to name all of her cousins (and spouses and their children). Anyway, I’ll pose this question to my readership: assuming you have a significant other, how well could you draw out your significant other’s family tree (on both sides) starting with his/her grandparents and ending with the youngest generation?
In my family tree, the youngest generation is two generations younger than me: I have a first cousin twice removed (that is, a grandchild of my cousin). So, while putting together the family tree of your significant other might be an interesting challenge, if you have a complicated (or even large) family tree, it might even be an interesting challenge to write down your own family tree…