My mother referred to these as "calabash cousins" -- I never quite knew what it meant, but don't you know Wikipedia has come through here: "In Hawaii a calabash is a large serving bowl. It is usually made from a hardwood, rather than from the Calabash Gourd as in Maroon cultures. It is used on a buffet table or in the middle of the dining table. The use of the calabash in Hawaii has led to terms like "Calabash Family" or "Calabash Cousins". It indicates that an extended family has grown up around shared meals and close friendships. Food is very important in modern Hawaiian culture. The expression "E komo mai - Come, let's eat" was the standard welcome to anyone approaching a home." Now, the first time I heard her say this was sometime she spent time in Hawaii with my brother and his wife (a native of Hawaii) -- so, I expect that's where she got it, rather than from her squash eating western ancesters <G>. Pat In tucson -----Original Message----- From: roots-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:roots-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Megan Zurawicz Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 5:20 AM To: roots-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ROOTS-L] Relationships You're right, they're not. However, that's the kind of relationship that gets referred to sometimes as 'shirttail kin'....especially if they actually know each other. Not related but have relatives in common (i.e., K). When my daughters were in school, they had a friend they referred to as a "cousin cousin", which was the same sort of relative. They and Emily weren't related, but they had first cousins in common. My girls were first cousins to Katie on Katie's dad's side; Emily was a first cousin to Katie on her mom's side. So Emily *felt* like family, but she wasn't by any definable relationship. --pig ===== If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message