I stared down at my iPad and started to shake looking at the 23andMe comparison between my brother and me. Estimated relationship: Half-sibling What does it feel like to discover that you aren’t really your Dad’s child? It felt like I had been punched in the stomach and while I struggled to catch my breath,…
I was an early adopter of DNA testing. I took my first DNA test in December 2012 with Ancestry. I couldn’t wait to see my ethnicities! The testing pool was smaller in the early days when many folks hadn’t tested yet. Ethnicities were lumped together. My results came up with over 80% of British/Irish together….
“Estimated relationship: Half-brother.” Four little words are all it took to change my entire life that night. It was the night I discovered my Dad was not my biological father. It was April 26, 2015. My husband Fred was sleeping next to me. I was sitting up in our bed with my iPad learning my…
I didn’t realize how overwhelming it would be to be back in person again after three years. The energy was INCREDIBLE from everyone who was just so darn happy to see each other again. The classes, the Expo Hall, and the keynotes were all a great success. Enjoy my week with my photo highlights below!…
I’m a #RootsTech 2023 Influencer which means not only do I get to promote and participate in this mega genealogy conference, but I get to give stuff away! I’m giving away an in-person 3-Day Pass ($98 value) to RootsTech 2023. The conference takes place March 2 -4 in Salt Lake City, Utah. RootsTech 2023 is one…
My grandmother, Jeanette Shrum Willett, left us a wonderful handwritten manuscript of her life which she wrote in the mid-1980s. She was born August 4, 1897, in Bloomington, Indiana, and died March 3, 1988, in Salem, Massachusetts. I have been transcribing her manuscript here. You can start from the beginning with Part 1. The grammar,…