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The Magic of DNA: It Can Unite Kinfolk
Intro:
My daughter penned lyrics to a song, a poetic work. And this column is meant to describe the thrill her poetry gave me and why.
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The day my curiosity became an obsession is one I shall never
forget. I fell in love with a marvelous character who came to my
attention as sisters Mary and Jacquie joined me to try out our MomMay's
new Genealogy software. Being the fastest typist of the three, my elder
sisters chose to take on the chore of sorting through her collection of
data organized by the surname of the paternal head of what was
considered our primary lineages: Joslin, Hopper, Bullard, and Godwin.
We began the process by learning the basics of the software
usage and directions. Then four primary piles were arranged on the
desktop adjoining the computer workstation. We agreed it would be most
efficient to fill in the basic data for our family using MomMay and
DaddyJack as our HOME profile Family page. We were quite familiar with
our grandparents' names and our handy data collection fed us dates and
locations of vital events: birth, school, marriage, and death. The bare
bones of the lives we were exploring.
We resisted the temptation to fill in stories noted hither
and yon, vowing to get the tree and its roots and branches sketched in
before adorning it with leaves, buds, twigs, or flowers.
Then we came upon the pages devoted to Napa Charley Hopper,
also known as Big Charley and a few other sobriquets. What a fascinating
MAN! It took my entire stubborn commitment to task at hand to stop
myself from delving into MORE of his story. We carefully scanned each
page to ensure we had captured pertinent critical facts before carefully
setting HIS pages aside marked by the attachment of a big binder clip.
My fingers could not enter the (now) uninteresting FACTS for
the rest of his family group so I could finally turn to becoming
acquainted with this fascinating man!
But my sisters insisted we work through the other three
family groups' data first. And then we hit the strangely duplicated
"portions" of the family members appearing in the next packet. It was a
struggle that took days to sort out (we hoped we had sorted it
correctly, at least).
Finally, a week or so later, we had extracted the data that
filled out the interconnected family groups. Just their vital data bits
and the HOW they were related. It was time to get to the delicious task
of organizing a timeline for Napa Charley and exploring his history,
filling in verbatim the tales of his amazing exploits.
I WAS HOOKED! And that fire once lit has not been
extinguished. I've used every resource available to me in my attempt to
KNOW my ancestors, thrill to their accomplishments, wonder at what
inspired their decisions, grieve with them as they experienced loss or
deep disappointment, and ultimately mourn their loss, make note of their
burial place if possible.
Along the way we found many treasured FACTS about our family
weren't ... facts, I mean. They were myths, legends, fantasies. Stuff
disputed by the paper trail that pens the imprint of our lives.
Sometimes elusive and often just flat wrong as well. So many hours spent
scratching our head and struggling to dig out the truth.
And, then, the MIRACLE. God's building blocks. The fabric and
thread from which He created all things. DNA. Once this incredible core
of creation was first revealed, our entire concept of our existence was
altered. The framework of DNA has changed how we fight disease, grow
food, improve our lives and discover how connected each person is to the
world's population.
Several years ago I sent in my DNA. Waited not so patiently
for the first results. Discovered my ethnicity according to Ancestry was
only partially truth (later found Ancestry's ethnicity algorithms to be
a work in progress itself) and began to resolve some puzzling
relationships not resolved through paper trails. I learned I have
cousins. Not the dozen or so I knew as first or second cousins but
thousands of cousins!! I try to connect those closest by Centimorgan
measurement by tracing their connection to our most recent common
ancestors. Many have found their place in my tree.
Quickly I strategized how to use this miraculous tool to work
on every genealogist's headache - the inevitable brick wall, that spot
in the tree where try as you might you cannot track the next generation
back in time. So I asked my daughter and my son's son to test (offering
two different parental lines to help sort matches). One of my most
elusive tree profiles was the bio father of my first husband, the father
of my children. He had been haunted by never knowing. Abandoned at
birth to the Miami-Dade orphanage, he had no clue. I had promised to try
to find the bio parents. Through Melissa and Adam's DNA results, I
found incontrovertible proof of his bio dad. We continue tracking the
bio mom, although I have a strong suspect in my sights.
As a result, however, of her DNA testing my daughter has had
her life enriched beyond measure by finding siblings! Brothers in
addition to her elder full sibling, my son John, father of Adam. Melissa
found a treasure trove of siblings after the results of her DNA test
were in. She celebrates her love for the brothers found and wonderment
at God's mysterious and wonderful blessings in this joyous verse. Her
poem expresses the marvel and joy these findings have brought to her.
* * * * * *
MELISSA'S SONG: BROTHERS! Johnny Ray, Jason, Rock & Jordan.
Oh how I love 'em every mornin'.Just a baby I was makin' dreams,
brothers, yeah brothers, a part of the schemes.Prayin' someday He'd give me the gift,
Oh my Lord he didn't forget.Waking up early opening my eyes,
there they were like a beautiful sunrise.Johnny Ray, Jason, Rock & Jordan.
Man I keep ...
Love'n em every mornin'.©January 2026 Melissa Bradshaw
* * * * * *
Ancestry offers the largest DNA test results from around the
world. Other companies offer a variety of attractive "bells and
whistles" which are worthy of exploring if you're desirous of testing.
Some offer their own labs; others use results from separate commercial
laboratories. You might look into My Heritage, 23andMe, Family Tree DNA
and companies that specialize in mitochondrial (maternal lineage) or
Y-DNA (specific to Father to son lineage where each generation changes
segments by only a measured amount permitting one to determine the
relationship through the descent).
See you next month!
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