I’m not sure that I’ve properly introduced myself to you, so here goes. This is your official but not so serious formal hello! I am waving at you with a smile on my face, of course. I am Cathy and have gone by the nickname Cat by those who know me well. I have been mistaken as a Nancy by those who think my last name is my first and they mispronounce it even though it rhymes with dance.
If you are reading this most likely you are human although alien life could potentially decipher our language if they could get ahold of this email and had intelligence. As an affectionate human and someone who believe in touching others with the senses, I would like to extend a big hug in the form of my words.
I was named after one of my mother’s childhood dolls as was my sister. She only had 2 dolls which possibly foretold of the death of my brother soon after he was born but that is a story for another time. My ancestors came mainly from Scotland, England, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, and Germany. Like my ancestors I have lived in many places and have settled into a light-filled place I call home within the Houston metropolitan area. When you think of Houston it most likely conjures images in your mind of concrete, but it really isn’t. I live in an area that is heavily wooded. One of the ways I know I am not far from home is the scent of the trees that fill the car as I drive.
I have been collecting many stories as the family genealogist. I am here with a grateful heart and open mind as someone who has lived a full life. I have always been curious and explored the unending possibilities presented to me along the way and this writing project are one of those doorways that I decided to walk through this month. A few years ago, a DNA test was yet another one of those doorways. I had hit roadblocks in doing my family tree that seemed impossible to get past. I thought the best way of doing that was to do a DNA test and then do some reverse trees if I had too. Reverse trees are where you start from the point of a known DNA relative and work their tree downward to connect your own tree.
I remember waiting for those test results by checking daily sometimes multiple times a day. I was so excited! When the moment happened that I was notified that the results were in I could hardly stand it. I ran to my laptop and opened up ancestry as quick as I could. Low and behold there were results! I let me know that I had over 1000+ fourth cousins or closer to sort through. I started going down the list of names some of which are like code where you don’t know who they are. Most of the names I didn’t know so I had my work cut out for me.
I have been working that list now for several years. It knocked the roadblock down and confirmed all the work I had done over the years. I found out some interesting things and some surprises which were all wonderful. It’s scary for many people to do a test like this because you never know what information it will bring into your life. Some people are afraid the government will do something with the dna or we will get cloned. I personally think it would be neat to have more of me running around then I could hug myself or get help when I needed it. I accepted all the testing they want to do and am open to any results they find in the future even if that is something I can’t do anything about.
In the end what I found was family. Connections with people who mean something to you whether they are blood related, a friend or a colleague helps in knowing you’re not alone. In doing my tree I found out that one of my employers was a cousin. I also found that out that although we shared no dna because of how far back we are connected my tree and my mother-in-law’s tree connected as well. Did you know that according to leading geneticists, no human being no matter what race they are can be less closely related to any other human being than approximately fiftieth cousin on average, and a lot of us are closer than this. So, hi there cousin! HUGS!
Cathy