Dick Croeber ,aged 9, of Spokane, Wash., for his question:

Will you please explain the relationship of relatives?

Knowing who your relatives are might seem simple. But it Isn't always so, we think of a family as Father, Mother, brothers and sisters. However, lots of people have step‑mothers, step‑fathers and step‑brothers and sisters. Some have half sisters and half brothers. This is all very fine. Since most people agree that the more relatives they have the better. But my, it can be confusing.

One thing you can be sure of ‑ you started life with one Mother and one Father. These are your nearest relatives and the ones you obey ‑ of course. However, your original Mother may have A, husband who is not your original Father. This second father is your step father. Or, your original Father may now be married to a wife who is not your original Pdother. This second mother mould be your step mother. And ‑ no matter what people any ‑ step mothers _a,nd .fathers _ very often turn out to be wonderful parents:

Some people confuse step brothers and sisters with half brothers and sisters. Step brothers and sisters are the former children of a step mother or father. Half brothers and sisters are the children of one of your original parents. They hive a. different mother or father.

Grandparents, of course, are the parents of your parent, One of your grannies is Mother's mother, the other if Father's mother. Aunts and uncles are the brothers and sisters ,of your parents. Cousins are the children of an aunt or uncle. Of these relations, all but the step brothers, sisters and parents are blood relptivea. That is, they a.re directly related to you. You might expect to take after them, perhaps in appearance,

But no sensible person stops counting his kin with has blood relatives, There are in‑law relatives. There are second cousins, step cousins and. half cousins. All these relatives can total up to make a proper sized family. In.‑laws are those related by marriage. Your Mother's Mama, one of your grannies, is your Father's mother‑in‑law. And again, no matter what they say, a mother‑in.‑law can be a pretty fine relative to have.

. Families in our youth‑land ere very sensible about counting their relatives, They count their second and third cousins as cousins. They even include everyone who happens to be married to one of their cousins, If you wanted to, you could claim relationship with the whole family of someone who was married to a relative of yours.

Naturally, you would then include everyone who was married to one of these in‑law relatives. Now include their families and alb. the families related to them. This, of course, could go on and on. If you kept on long enough, it mould include just about everybody.

And this is gust about right. For in one way or another, though you might have to stretch it a bit, everyone alive is related to everyone else, .We all belong to the Human Family ‑. which is exactly the right size for a family to be.