On May 3rd Jay Nordlinger of National Review shared an e-mail he received about cousin marriage:
There was a headline that was maybe — well, not optimally worded: “Tennessee lawmakers send bill to ban first-cousin marriages to governor.” I noted it in an Impromptus, here.
A reader writes,
I have to share a family joke. My father is the third of three boys. My oldest uncle had one boy, two years older than I. He was my first crush, sort of. We thought he was the best. My other uncle had three girls and one boy and we rarely saw them since they lived halfway across the country, but one memorable year we all got together. All the cousins slept at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, even the local ones.
A year or so later my aunt shared a humorous story about her middle girl who was showing no interest in boys at the ancient age of twelve. When asked about it, this girl said, “Oh, I’m just going to marry [my older uncle’s son].” We laughed about that for years.
You have to be careful about these family jokes. They got married in 1980 (yes, it was legal) and have raised three kids.
