I have a few obsessions in this world and when I get going on them, I can’t stop thinking about them, writing about them, pinning about them or bringing them up in any given conversation. It’s almost a social awkward issue at this point. My current obsessions include the following:
And my latest obsession? Finding out my history. I’ve now uploaded my raw DNA to 2 additional sites. Basically I am probably owned by the government at this point. But hear me out why I did this. I wanted to ensure my first results were super accurate. And plus, not only did my results shock me but something else happened.
Once you review your results, you can also review other ancestry.com members who have had their DNA tested too and find cousins! How cool is that? So I scrolled through the connections and one caught my eye because his last name was familiar as well as his picture.
‘No, this is not possible,’ I thought. ‘Familiar, but it doesn’t look like him.’
The next morning I sent the following email along with a screen shot of the gentleman in question to the Vice President of our company:
Hello! Please see below, I wanted to see if the gentleman in the picture is related to you or is in another family locally.
He’s really cool and laid back so I felt comfortable sending this email. A few minutes later he responded with:
LOL! Where is this from?
I then explained how I took an ancestry test and how the gentleman in the picture showed up as a predicted 4-6th cousin and that we share DNA. Then my phone rang, it was the VP.
“That’s my uncle!” He laughed.
“No way, your uncle? Oh my God!”
Can you believe this? The man in the above picture is the owner of the company I currently work for!!! His son and 1 nephew is the Vice President while a 2nd nephew is the President!
So How Are We Related?
No fuckin’ clue. I just know upon my first attempt at ancestry research, I found several people in my family with their last name but from the 1700’s and 1800’s. I know their family and my family come from the exact small town in Italy. I am going to find out how we are connected though.
It was really cool yesterday because the President walked past my cube and said,
“What’s up cuz?”
Have any of you done DNA research? What did you find out? Anything shocking? I would love to hear any of your stories!
Omg. I had to cut myself off from ancestry.com!! I made the mistake of checking out the site while I was working on my BSN!! It was like being sucked into a vortex. It’s more addicting than blogging. But I love it!!
It is a black hole…Full of frustration bc I can’t find what I’m looking for!!! Argh!! I’m not more addicted to it yet then blogging quiet yet….
Wait for it…..once you have a big find or break through…it will have you! Lol. I do miss it, but I had to cancel my account when I moved to save money.
That is literally all I did yesterday was Ancestry. Hence the late response to this comment. I’m pulling myself away. I ignored everything yesterday to find clues. It’s a rabbit hole.
Yes it is!
Yes I understand your obsession. My daughter-in-law’s parents started the ball rolling – she wanting my son to have a go. I persuaded Cyberspouse it would be a great anniversary present to ourselves – but secretly I wanted to check up on his family and find something exotic for myself. Cyberspouse was who he said he was and there were no surprises for me. But I got a ‘message’ and discovered I had lots of relatives in Canada. I was e-mailing the grandaughter of my grandmother’s brother.
https://tidalscribe.wordpress.com/2017/06
Oh wow…that’s so cool! I hope to meet new family members through this process.
What an interesting story! Perhaps you will one day be heir to the throne of the company!!
Dwight
Ha! I’m not that closely related. But I am trying desperately to find out where we connect.
Given how much of my “family history” was filtered to me through… let’s say “less-than-reliable” sources, I’ve thought about doing this. Because hey, maybe I could connect with some cousins who were in the know but not in the branch that brought me nothing but headaches and drama?
On the other hand, I might find out that there’s no such thing as a person with any blood connection to me who isn’t a garbage human being… paying to learn that would probably send me ’round the bend for good, lol.
I feel confident that if you did this, there would be at least 1 branch that’s not garbage. And if they Are? Simply throw the damn tree away. Let me know if you do it!
That is sooo cool that you found someone you know in real life!
My parents are obsessed with this too, so they keep wanting me to meet with random new family as we travel around the world. It seems really strange to me. I mean, isn’t family more about relationships than blood? It’s still really interesting though…
It really is cool but you are so right. Family doesn’t have to be blood.
That is so cool!!! I haven’t personally done the ancestry test, but I have an aunt who’s mapped out our entire genealogy, but that’s only on one side of my family… I did this with my pups not too long ago and found out that my demon of a dog is part non-domesticated breed. That explains ALOT!
You can do that Wow. Actually that brings me to a question, how do you do that? Does it just show what % your dog is of lab, Chihuahua, etc?
That’s so funny. Great post.
Thank you!
Haven’t done DNA yet, but have made contact with the Canadian branch of the family – we all come from the same German ancestor
That’s so cool. I hope to meet some new family members. In fact, I just sent a new cousin I discovered a Facebook message.
I have never done a DNA test, but I do know that I’m 7th cousins with Abraham Lincoln. His cousin (Louisa) is my great great (great?) grandmother. I loved knowing that fact growing up. 4th grade me did all her history reports on him and was so smug about it “yeah well *I’m* related to PRESIDENT Abraham Lincoln” haha I was probably kind of a little brat.
I would have been like that too. That is so super cool! I would love to find someone famous I’m related to but with my luck, it would be a relation to a murderer.
Lol murderers are cool too! At least super interesting lol
Are you a murderer?
Yes….I murdered a mailbox once…..
That’s true, I forgot about that. Well, I’m sure the mailbox had it comin’!
LOL yeah it totally did. HOW DARE IT just stand on the side of the road doing it’s job, waiting for the mail, while my car slid on ice up a hill and crashed into it hehe. It should have moved.