About Me

I first became interested in genealogy after the birth of my son. I noticed traits in my son I wondered if they were inherited. I know nothing about his father's ancestors. My parents divorced when I was six months old and I had never met any person on my paternal side. I adopted my daughter from India and felt a kind of grief for her because I knew she would never know anything about her biological family. I then became overwhelmed raising my children until 15 years later my aunt die (my mother and uncle had died a few years earlier). When I was looking at old family photos with my cousins the question was poses did my uncle look like he was part black. I had wondered about a possible connection but had never voiced it as my family was prejudice against many types of people including African Americans In my family keeping family secrets was a big rule. My grandmother talked little about her life before her children were grown. Her husband had died when my mother was 10. I had found a small book that listed some family history. My uncle was the only one living who I thought might know but I was afraid to ask him. I didn't think to interview him about things he did remembered and he die soon after. I was able to arrange a meeting with my paternal grandmother and aunt. My grandmother gave me a copy of her family tree and told me several stories. Since then I have been able to fill in many holes and also discover her husbands ancestors. Once my children were at an age that I thought they could take start to be responsible for themselves. I started finding some information on line and my male cousin with my maternal family surname agreed to do some DNA testing. Through that I saw further evidence that we had African ancestry. I had always thought that in the pictures of my maternal grandfather that he looked part African. As things turned out the only proof of African heritage was on my maternal grandmother side. Eventually I made contact with someone from her maternal side. I also found a cousin who her grandparents were siblings to my grandparents. That is our grandfathers were brothers and our grandmothers were sisters. Those cousins were able to meet in persons. As a result I have found or received pictures and information on my lost family. Some I have been fortunate to visit and others to establish close telephone contact with. The African American side of my family would never have contacted me. They had a strong belief that if my grandmother had chosen to "pass" that it wasn't their place to interfere. I not having such qualms have contacted another white cousins. Some who nothing about their grandmother and had a living uncle that one is delighted to have met. I have found things that make me proud of my roots and have also uncovered some things that others may look down on. In my mind it's all wonderful information that has enriched my life and I hope to pass on to whoever wants to discover the past. I still have so many things about my ancestors that I want to learn about and some brick walls to bust through. did you get involved in genealogy?