DNA

Earlier in the year, I had my DNA analyzed by ancestry.com and received my results within a few weeks.  It was so amazing to see all the areas of the world where my ancestry began, and how those early relatives scattered and connected, and where we have all established ourselves today.  I now have the confirmation that my family tree connections were correct, even generations back. If you haven’t researched your ancestry, you should.  The kits are not that expensive.  Our son and daughter-in-law gifted my husband and me with ours last Christmas, and it was exciting for the whole family to see the results.  My husband is adopted, so it has a special meaning for him to connect with birth relatives, most of whom he was unaware.

I began researching genealogy back in the 80’s, and had reached a lot of dead ends, but now a new world is opening up.  I find it utterly fascinating.  It is like unraveling a mystery, discovering interesting stories and characters, while longtime questions I have had are finally answered.   How many more questions are there that I am not even aware of yet?

It is an adventure, and so many people all over the world have uploaded their trees, their records, their photos.  Ancestry.com makes it so easy.  I am in the process of scanning all my old photos and records to upload into the families where they belong.  I have worried about all of them when I am gone, what would become of them should my children or grandchildren have no interest in them.  I can’t imagine that, but still, years from now, who knows?  This is the answer, a place for them, for generations who follow to actually see us, their ancestors.  It is incredibly liberating for me.  My tree can be viewed here.

The photo I have inserted above is of my grand aunt and her husband: Clara Friddle and Frank Bowen.  Clara was twelve when her pioneer family came from Alabama in a covered wagon to settle in East Texas in 1894.  My grandfather Tom, Clara’s younger brother, was a boy of five when they arrived.    Clara and Frank had no children, but they were beloved by their nieces and nephews.  I just want them to be remembered, so here they are.

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