My sister had already gotten her DNA tested through Ancestry. She had always been curious (as was I for that matter) where our father had come from. As far as we knew, he had been adopted by our Oma and Opa (now deceased). But you know how it is with adoptions in the early 20th century - shrouded in secrecy. So my sister figured that the best and pretty much only way to determine where he came from was to get her DNA analyzed. The results pointed to a particular family in eastern Quebec. To respect their privacy, they shall remain nameless.
My sister also figured that since sometimes the data are a little off, especially when only dealing with one data point, a good way to lend validity to the results would be if I got my DNA checked too. Well, wouldn't you know it, same results.
Now for me, it was enough to know that we finally got to the bottom of the mystery. We now knew our blood heritage (Quebecois, not German or Slovenian) and family lineage. But my sister wanted to know more. So she began researching through Ancestry and met some cousins online. Then she went to visit the family graves and arranged a meet with living family members. They were surprised, but happy to be meeting some of the newly discovered family. I believe some of them got the test too and confirmed the link. My sister and her husband were surprised to discover that one cousin looked and had mannerisms shockingly similar to mine. We face timed while she was visiting them and they all agreed that I looked a lot like their male family members, especially the older generation.
There's a chance I will get to meet them the next time I go home to Quebec.
Meanwhile, Darlene finally decided to get her DNA analyzed as well. There were some questions about possible family connections that were never proven and lo and behold, the tests proved them once and for all.
She has been spending a lot of time researching her lineage and has traced it a long way back. She has found a lot of confirmed cousins who are now friends.
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