The time is here, almost Christmas and the sales may still be going on in some stores or sites. Everyone is looking for a special gift.
I wanted to share my top pick for a gift to give family and even friends: a DNA kit. Yes! Ancestry.com is my pick but do your research and choose which best suits your situation.
It’s what I got for Christmas from my husband last year and I was thrilled to receive it, spit in the tube, and send it forth. Waiting was hard but not unexciting! The results came in and I wasn’t too surprised, it was almost a 50/50 split of (1) England, Whales, and Northwestern Europe & (2) Ireland, Scotland.
I did wish for proof of the family stories of Native American in my blood, but it still may be there in small amounts-not yet traceable. I did hope to have some more ties directly to Canada, the birth place of my maternal grandfather.
My ancestry journey began while in college, I had an overwhelming desire to find out more of my mysterious grandparent. I never met him, he passed away when my mother was young. I’d only heard tales of his gifts of telling stories and speaking multiple languages (it is rumored that he could speak 7-I have no proof though).
In my search, I connected for the first time with my half-aunt, who was also sent on a search into family history at the request of her daughter. I have yet to be able to communicate with her, my half-cousin but hope to one day. We were both curious at the same time about the same things and are close in age.
My search led me to be in contact with very kind Canadian government offices who gave me information on his birth and family history there before he moved to the states. His military records are still a mystery, he covered his tracks well. I haven’t made any huge breakthroughs in his records, and I may not, but in what little I could find out I gave myself peace in trying.
Life moved on, I graduated, things on the ancestry front took a back seat to a job, then a baby, and now another baby. I loved having my DNA tested to trace where my ancestors came from genetically. Both my husband and I have strong ties to the European homeland of our families, and we really respect those immigrants in our families who came over the ocean “in to the unknown” 😉
Reminiscent to the title, which is also a song from “Anastasia”, I have fuzzy memories of my childhood. Also like Anastasia, I was close to my maternal grandmother who lived with us until she passed away. She and I may never have spoken about her husbands and the earlier life she led-but her love for the French-speaking Canadian made me a possibility, and for that I’m thankful.
It’s really interesting that the test I used shows how many strands of DNA you have in common with other relatives who have done the same test. My mom’s only sister took the test and is my strongest genetic tie, and right after her is a great-aunt, ranked closer than a cousin. Then there’s all the 3, 4, & 5th cousins which there are a lot of for anyone.
The family tree I began working on 6 to 7 years ago is still stored on ancestry.com, and whenever I have time to work on it one day I will invest in the monthly subscription to use their documents. I think if they made the monthly subscription a lower price like other popular ones they would get more customers. I haven’t looked too far into the other health DNA tests they have now but they are intriguing-maybe next year.
Items we give people for Christmas may last generations, but with the gift of discovering your ancestry you are able to pass down that knowledge of the generations that came before you as well.
