Extended family

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I think I would be doing so much better in my life had my grandparents and other extended family members been involved in my life. I think most of the traumatic experiences I had in my life could have been avoided had I had normal grandparents, aunts, and uncles that were actually a part of my life. My siblings and I are pretty much ignored by our extended family. Do any of you have extended family members involved in your lives? If not, do you wish they were?

I saw my grandparents a few times a year, but I don't think anybody in my family took much of an interest in me. There just wasn't much parental talent anywhere. I didn't even get their histories 'till they were dead.

My grandmother raised me. The rest of my family sucks (except my sister).

We all like each other and get along, though they're not really involved in my life as far as knowing personal things about me.

I don't have contact with either side of my family. I've hunted them down online as best I can, with mixed results. I would never contact any of them, though, or at least not anytime soon. I don't think I want anything to do with them based on the way they treated my parents, though I would like to hear the other side to all the stories and fill in the gaps, just because I'm an avid historian and can't stand to miss out on my own heritage. All the same, I've always wanted an extended family I could really interact with. Just not my extended family.

We had a very engaged extended family; I was even sent to live with an aunt or an uncle on occasion; I guess to give my parents some respite. Still, everything turned out exactly as it did.
I am just as I am in this present moment. Wishing that the past was in any way different doesn't seem any more helpful to me than wishing that yesterday's sunrise was prettier.

Before Autism was a thing, I went to a lot of meetings for various dysfunctions, and NT families are often disasters, too.