For many of us,the idea of a family is a lot narrower than it used to be.Today children go away to college,and take up jobs wherever chances seem greatest.So instead of growing up in a family with grandparents,aunts,uncles and cousins,many of us are truly connected only to our parents and brothers.Many kids today know little of the lives of their relatives and don't care deeply about them.Whether we realize it or not,this feeling of being disconnected

For many of us,the idea of a family is a lot narrower than it used to be.Today children go away to college,and take up jobs wherever chances seem greatest.So instead of growing up in a family with grandparents,aunts,uncles and cousins,many of us are truly connected only to our parents and brothers.Many kids today know little of the lives of their relatives and don't care deeply about them.Whether we realize it or not,this feeling of being disconnected makes people feel a kind of lonely.“People need to feel connected,”says Joy Browne,a doctor in the U.S.“And they will do it in the easiest ways.”When family members aren't connected,what could be easier than forming(形成) a connection to famous people?This isn't something unusual,of course.People cried when Mei Yanfang died in 2003.It's natural and in most ways harmless to feel that way.But that's unhealthy,because these relationships(关系) aren't two-way.For that,we need to stay connected to our own families.We'll never turn back the clock to keep families from breaking.But parents can help by telling their children stories about their grandparents,aunts and cousins,and by telling them the children's latest activities and interests.We can use technology to keep connected with each other.It's easy to send e-mails to granddad Better yet,take a vacation with members o