Whatever your ethnic origin, how wonderful to create and maintain a connection with relatives who still live in the area from which your ancestors emigrated! 

My mother was 100% Dutch. Her father, the oldest son of a large family in Friesland, came to the United States in 1895.  He brought his parents and all his brothers and sisters--with the exception of an older sister, Baaye, who was already married with children.  Baaye's husband wasn't interested in moving to America, and she never saw her parents or siblings again. In the late 1920s, one of Baaye's sons, Sybren "Sy", came to the United States as a young man.  He lived and worked with Baaye's brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews for several years before returning to Friesland to marry and raise a family.  A bond was created between the "line of Baaye" and the American branch of the family, and it lives on today.  Largely because of Sy, descendants of the American immigrants have visited back and forth with their Frisian relatives regularly.  I feel blessed to have traveled to the Netherlands several times to visit them in their homes. 

As I write this, three of Sybren's children - my second-cousins - and their spouses are guests in our home.  My husband and I have become close to them, despite geographical distance and minor language/cultural differences. In fact, that's probably part of the unique and very special relationship between all of us. In 2009 a reunion of over 400 Frisian and American "extended cousins" took place in Lynden, Washington. Connections were made that will continue into future generations.

I was lucky; I didn't have to search to find my Dutch relatives. Relationships were maintained and encouraged by my grandparents and parents. But it continues to be my hope to find my husband's second- or third- or fourth-cousins in Ireland. This weekend motivated me to keep searching.