I have recently got in touch with my dad's side of the family who I have never known. My Auntie has 8 kids and I'm just getting to know them. I have developed more than a family love for one of my cousins. I find myself falling in love with him, and he has told me he feels the same. He already has a girlfriend and the situation is confusing. Please help me on what to do?

---------------------Miss Emily's advice-----------------

It's dicey. Not only are you and he cousins, but the family, or families may look at this as a huge negative. Certain societies see first cousin relationships as incest.  In the U.S., some states allow marriages to first cousins, but others ban it, or it's a criminal offense! It is legal in the U.K. from what I found on the Internet. I'm jumping the gun, but if you and he were to fall deeply in love, this could become a traumatic issue for you and him, and one you cannot choose to ignore. If you and he knew that one family, or both would not approve and, yet, decided to get together, that can be an isolating experience, and it could, ultimately, destroy the relationship. "Act in haste, repent in leisure."