Discovering Long Lost Relatives
@DeborahDiane (40848)
Laguna Woods, California
November 26, 2018 6:29pm CST
Last Christmas, my husband and I sent DNA samples to Ancestry. com. Periodically during the past year, we received messages from Ancestry that they had discovered a possible relative. In every case, it was someone we already knew about.
A few months ago, a woman in Los Angeles contacted me. Ancestry had informed her that we could be 3rd or 4th cousins. It turned out that my grandfather, Albert, was the half-brother of her grandfather, George. They had the same father, but different mothers. George's mother died young of childbirth after giving birth to two sons. Then, George's father remarried and fathered eleven more children, including my grandfather!
The day after Thanksgiving, I had lunch in Laguna Beach with these newfound cousins, Kristeen, Barbara and Carol. I'm the one in the red shirt in the photo above. We had so much in common, it was eerie. It was fun to discover some long lost cousins and "fill in the blanks" about family members I knew nothing about. I continue to be happy that I sent in the DNA sample to Ancestry. Who knows what other surprises there might be ahead for me?
12 people like this
16 responses
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@DianneN - I have already learned more about this branch of the family ... relatives I knew nothing about. It is amazing that I have a number of new relatives living only 50 miles from me here in California. It really is a small world!
2 people like this
@DianneN (254926)
• United States
27 Nov 18
@DeborahDiane And they resemble you a bit!
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@DianneN - Yes, we all could see some family resemblances, not just with each other, but with other members of our families. Isn't that interesting?
We also had family members on both sides who were teachers. The woman who is sitting next to me in the center of the photo used to be a Realtor, which I was for a number of years. The woman on the other side of me is an amateur writer, too. She has written a number of journals and I told her how she could publish them on CreateSpace, so her descendants could own published copies.
I have a nephew who is a St. Louis firefighter / paramedic. They do, too! It was almost weird talking to them! Here's a photo which I love of my nephew from a time when he let a bird out of a cage during a house fire and the bird returned and landed on my nephew's helmet! LOL
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@jstory07 - I am almost 70 years old. Who would have thought that I would meet new relatives at this age?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502573)
• Italy
28 Nov 18
@DeborahDiane I can imagine it was a surprise. In Europe we more or less know all the members of a family, because people stay in the area where they were born.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
29 Nov 18
@LadyDuck - Yes, people move around much more in the United States. It was a surprise to me to discover that my grandfather actually had a dozen brothers or sisters, none of whom I knew about. That means I could have many potential cousins I have never heard about.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@LadyDuck - It was such an unexpected and pleasant surprise!
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
6 Dec 18
That's cool. We used ancestry. Com years ago before anyone was doing that type of DNA research . I doubt is find lost relatives but none of us know much about when my dad's ancestors first came to America. One day that may be nice to find out.
Both my mom's parents came from Poland and meet in Chicago and moved to Michigan after having at least one child.
My husband traced his family tree back to the Mayflower with one branch and to the civil war on his grandmother's side.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
7 Dec 18
@DeborahDiane I figured that but we don't have the funds at present to update our progress with them or our account.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
8 Dec 18
@MarshaMusselman - I understand. Perhaps at some point one of your other relatives will get more information about your ancestors. I have shared what I learned with one of my cousins and her part of the family.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
7 Dec 18
@MarshaMusselman - I tried Ancestry about 10 years ago to find out more about my ancestors, and they did not have much information. Then, one year ago I sent in my DNA and started a preliminary family tree with just the names of my grandparents and BINGO, all kinds of information going back hundreds of years came up. Ancestry has improved their database dramatically in the past 10 years.
1 person likes this
@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
27 Nov 18
You and the one on the leftmost look more like sisters, Ms. Deborah. I even thought at first that she was you :)
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
29 Nov 18
@sunrisefan - Thank you! It was fun to discover these new relatives and, yes, we had a lot of physical similarities!
1 person likes this
@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
29 Nov 18
@DeborahDiane The fun can be seen in your faces :)
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130150)
• Israel
29 Nov 18
@DeborahDiane
I am so happy for you that you found some long lost relatives and got to meet them in person and talk to them. When I first came to live in Israel when I went back to the States to bring things here I asked a cousin if we had family here and he told me about them. When I contacted them and met them I could not talk to them because my Hebrew was not good but now when I tried to search for them again I cannot find them. I am happy for you. I had someone help me find out about my family but nothing was discovered about family here. It was about my father and my grandparents and learned things I did not know about them. When I wanted to look for what I got I could not find it.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
30 Nov 18
@Hannihar - I am so sorry that you were not able to find your family members after your Hebrew improved. I'm sure that was a big disappointment. I was completely surprised to find this part of my family.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
1 Dec 18
@Hannihar - I hope you also have a good circle of friends and neighbors who you have connected with. I have a friend who doesn't have much family, but she always says, "Friends are the family God meant you to have." I think it is sweet that she has made herself a new family.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130150)
• Israel
30 Nov 18
@DeborahDiane
Thank you so much and yes I was very sad. So many people have family here and I feel kind of left out. I am glad I have Sophie. I am so happy for you that you did find family.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (17242)
• China
30 Nov 18
That was something exciting ! You definitely felt a natural affinity for them at the moment when you met in Laguna Beach.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
1 Dec 18
Yes, it was fun meeting them. Now, I am Instagram friends with the younger one and we can easily stay in touch in the future.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
27 Nov 18
I am glad you were able to connect with cousins you never knew existed!
My aunt contacted me that way. I call her my aunt, and technically she is, but she isn't the type of aunt you'd send a gift to, maybe a Christmas Card though. She is my father's half sister. She was adopted out before my father was born. She found her birth mother, my grandmother, several years back and reconnected with her. My grandmother told her a lot about her family and this aunt was able to give me information about them that I was not aware of. Things I had been trying to find out.
It's also how I found out that there was a woman born, oh I can't remember how many years before I was, but on the exact same day as I was. I think, if memory serves, she would be my great great great grandmother.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum - It is amazing how much we can now learn about ourselves and our ancesters. Things which would have been impossible to know 100 years ago, are now easily discovered.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
28 Nov 18
@DeborahDiane I agree with you. I do have to say that 100 years ago people were more apt to record things about their family in their bibles. Of course that still probably wouldn't have helped us discover which of our ancestors crossed the ocean to get here, or who they were exactly. It wouldn't tell us what our genetic makeup says about where we came from.
I find it so interesting that I have more Irish and English in me than I do German, though I know that I have German ancestry.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
29 Nov 18
@ScribbledAdNauseum - I was surprised to discover the same thing. I am 70% from Great Britain and 30% (more or less) from Germany and France. I would have thought it was the opposite!
@wolfgirl569 (135819)
• Marion, Ohio
27 Nov 18
Glad you are finding family that you didnt know you had.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@wolfgirl569 - Yes, it was a pleasant surprise!
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@noni1959 - I'm amazed by how much information we can discover by submitting our DNA. It has been an interesting journey!
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
29 Nov 18
@just4him - Thank you! It was a lot of fun!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@JudyEv - It was a pleasant surprise. I guess you never know who you may be related to!
1 person likes this
@nawala123 (20871)
• Indonesia
4 Dec 18
that is very great. i ever meet someone and after had some discussion, we still relatives
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
4 Dec 18
It was a very exciting event for me to meet these relatives I never knew before.
@nawala123 (20871)
• Indonesia
4 Dec 18
@DeborahDiane Yes, like finding treasure
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
7 Dec 18
It has been wonderful to meet new relatives!
@DeborahDiane (40848)
• Laguna Woods, California
27 Nov 18
@rakski - Yes, I was delighted to discover these relatives!
