Ancestry.com
I never met my Dad, never seen a pic of him. Got the courage to go find him when I was 15. The same night I went looking for him he was murdered. For whatever reason I didn't go to the funeral.
Probably had a lot to do with why I ran around with a chip on my shoulder for so many years.
About a year ago I did the ancestry DNA deal wondering if I might find someone, anyone, from his side of the family.
Well I got like 10,000 hits for 4th through 10th cousins. Or something like that. Wasn't much help.
Two weeks ago Saturday morning I get an email from a lady who lives in Texas and is listed as a possible 4th cousin. She asks me if (my dads name) was murdered in (my birth town). He was the only person I had listed on my family tree and she seen it.
So I said yes and she thought she might have seen me as a child at an old address I lived at for the first 4 years of my life.
This was the first time I had heard of ANYONE that knew my Dad and could place me as a relative.
We chatted on the phone the next morning and she told me I had two siblings. That my father had married and had two kids, a boy and a girl. But she didn't know how to get a hold of any of them. Everybody she knew had died.
She went on to tell me she does genealogy for a living/hobby and will continue to look into it.
About 5 hours pass and she calls and says I think I might have a lead on your sister. She says she found a (insert name) that lives in the city I grew up in and would be about the right age.
I find her on Facebook and her account is private but I can see one friend with the last name xxxxx. Lady in Texas says hold on that rings a bell.
Couple minutes later she sends me a marriage certificate from 1974 of a (My dads name) and xxxxx. Then a birth certificate of the girls name she found on facebook. Then a marriage certificate that girls name to second last name she has listed on facebook.
She found my sister. I contacted my sister and she had been looking for me. She knew about me but had my last name spelled wrong and couldn't find me. We actually met for pizza that sunday. We have been talking everyday since.
I have a brother in prison, ironically with many of the same charges as I have had.
I was pretty overwhelmed there for a few days but ive been talking with my sister every day since.
Thought I would share.
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Good stuff dude! Hope it all works out with your new relationships!
Hello Sir,
These are great news, glad these things happen in life. Just another reminder for all if us about the real values in life, sometimes we simply forget about them while dealing with everyday problems.
Thank you Sir
That’s awesome & I wish you the best moving forward brother!
happy for you bro
That’s definitely cool. I’m m glad you were able to connect.
I met a second cousin on there. Her mom had lied about who the father was. A pretty shitty way to find out.
I traced stuff back on there, and found direct Native American lineage, and documentation about how one of the major tribes denounced our heritage because my ancestors tried hiding out during the trail of tears stuff. They tried leaving afterward and joining the reservation, but they wouldn’t allow it. We still have an unrecognized tribe in existence today.
I tan really red. It always pissed me off when people would ask if my sunburn hurt. It’s just my face. It was cool piecing all that together.
What’s weird though is that the tests only recognize Southern US/northern Mexican tribes. They can’t detect most of the greater North American tribes. When you click on the genetic location, all it shows is that area. The major tribes refuse any testing on their DNA.
I’m going to send the 23and me one off tomorrow. I’ll be curious to see how they compare.
SO the lady that initially contacted me does Geneology. She essentially started with herself and family and worked out from there. 30 years she has been doing it. Aside from a couple people in the puzzle that she has now found that connects to me she has a shit ton of info.
For my dads side of the family she has 9 generations she sent me. A book she put together of some 30,000 connections. Fkn unreal!
awesome stuff man. I think it will advance even more as time goes on. I’d like to put a little more effort into the tree. As a kid, I couldn’t go back further than my grandparents. Nobody really knew anything.
Dad bounced when I was pretty young, or we did really. I’d heard he had a couple more kids out there afterward. I glance through the connections every now and then to see if I have any redneck siblings out there. He wasn’t a picky man.... I’m sure one will pop up one day.
I kinda worried about finding out some ex was somehow related to me. So far so good there though. Lol.
Congratulations, family is everything.
RustyhookerThats just too cool!! Hope you can find the rest of the missing puzzle.
So are you a kid brother or she a little sister?
It's amazing how all those random elements of biotech, social media, and "dumb luck" confluenced into an immediate family member.
im the older brother.
I would agree. still kind of tripping over it.
Holy shit noid. Congrats. I have a similar story other than my dad is still alive but could just as well be dead. As he is to me.
It's always good to see you post. That's an amazing story!
Truly cool story.
Damn brother. It sure got dusty in here... That is awesome, and even cooler you both live relatively close to each other. Now take your raw DNA and load it up on GEDMatch and run through their filters too. Also I recommend springing for a 23andMe test as well. They give you a lot more genetic info and will increase the amount of people you can compare with.
My maternal side is a big mystery on my grandfathers side.
For now im just gonna be happy with a sister....Shes a gem at that, super Fkn cool.....
But my brother is looking for his dad too so ill tell him.
Jeez amazing!!! Congratulations brother. Nothing like family imo!
That's awesome bro.. good stuff right here
Awesome. Happy for you!
I love hearing stories like this! Really happy for you bro!
I enjoyed reading this. Im happy for you brother.