DNA: Ancestry or 23andMe
How can we know where we are going if we don’t know where we came from?
I have always been curious where I came from beyond my own father and mother. We get to know our grandparents as we grow up and if we are fortunate, some of us have the opportunity to meet our great grandparents. But when all is said and done and those brief fleeting moments of conversation are gone, where does our DNA lead to? As I become older and my children our grown, my quest for searching my genealogy or finding my roots is very important to me.
DNA testing is the real deal, it’s all about science and genetic insights needed to find our “roots”. Most of us are aware of our “nationalities” and some history from our parents stories, but what about lingering questions our parents can’t answer? Where do we find our ancestors from 1787 LOL Not funny because I know first hand how difficult it is working on a family tree when I received my DNA results. Yes, I am up there with my tree expanding into the year of 1787. It took me two years of working through Ancestry, BillionGraves and FamilySearch, I love a challenge..bring it on!
There is good discoveries and not so good discoveries that come out of “searching” family history. The good discoveries are knowing I have a ton of second, third, fourth, fifth cousins. Then it dwindles down with a small group of sixth, seventh and eighth cousins. I also have extended uncles and aunts I never knew about….was the joke on me? Is there a reason why I wasn’t told I had all these additional family members across the pond? The not so good discoveries are my tiny hopes of finding I am a lost princess to a King or a wealthy family that left me a castle back in the UK. Absolutely nothing wrong with wishful thinking:)
Another not so good discovery, I am no longer Italian (*frowning emoji)! This is news to me because the conversation around the dinner table many moons ago with my parents told a different story! I was told first hand my ancestors from my father’s side came from Naples/Sicily region. My aunt (dads sister) made that long trip to Sicily to meet her ancestors or did she lie to cover up the real reason she made that trip? So all these years I thought I had some Italian in me…maybe in the 5th century of the Roman Empire..so it’s still possible! Come on…my father has 11 siblings and my mother has 7 siblings; my great grandparents from dad’s side had a total of 18 siblings and my great grandparents from my mom’s side had 19 siblings, this is 37 siblings not including my parents siblings! Gosh…There had to be some Italian men along the way! Working on my family tree gave me some much needed insight on my genealogy and I am definitely ok with discovering I have a wide range of mix match traits with no Italian! I am very proud of who I am and all the amazing discoveries I found:) Salute!
I have discovered I belong to 4 different regions. I may not be Italian, but surprisingly I have wonderful amount of genealogical history and I have connected to so many amazing extended family members and acquaintances along the way. Did I say I do not have any Italian DNA?
The first region is at 89%. I have found extended family and ancestors in Southwest Poland and Northeast Ukraine. Region two is included with the “first region” and is also at 89% with my DNA following into Slovakia and Hungary. The third region is 7% with primary locations in Germany and Netherlands, but also includes Russia, Switzerland and Belgium. However, the third region expands to 15% in Croatia, Romania, Austria and Greece. Basically my third region has a “strong possibility” of DNA traits into those four extra areas.
The most interesting discovery is located in the fourth region at 2% but extends to 20% (again strong possibilities) is England and Northern Europe. My primary DNA follows to France and the UK. Could my wishful thinking turn into reality with a castle waiting for me? If I keep searching you just never know…. After two years of searching. I have learned DNA ties us all together, and is known to be the messenger which connects us and is handed down from generation to generation, literally in the body of our ancestors.
Never in a million years I thought of having family scattered in each corner of the world. It is a exhilarating experience to open your private life and reach out to extended family you never knew existed. My wish is to discover and get to know my genealogy so I can pass along this valuable information to my children. Dreaming, dedication and commitment is what makes me love this journey:)
