Dear Amy: I am the oldest of 13 first cousins on one side of the family. Many of these cousins are considerably younger than I (up to 21 years younger), and grew up many miles away from the extended family. As a result, these cousins are not privy to a lot of family history that I learned from the time I was quite young. Now, two of these younger cousins have approached me to “fill in the blanks” for them. My younger cousins do not know that in the early years of the Depression, my parent and two young siblings were abandoned by their father when their mother became gravely ill. My parent was placed with an uncle and his family who provided a loving home.