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Before Spitting, Be Prepared

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My father was born in 1891, 12 years before the Wright Brothers flew. He lived his entire life in New York City from the horse-and-buggy era to the age of jet-airliners and tall skyscrapers – a very transformational period. I was born in 1946, and was the only child from my parents’ late-in-life union. Mom was 43 at the time, and they told me many times that I was a “surprise baby.”
Dad was a respected supervisory mechanical engineer. He worked until 1954 when he was ruled disabled because of quickly deteriorating eyesight. As a young lad, he took me for outings on many of the city’s far-reaching elevated and subway lines. By the time I was 11, my father was no longer able to navigate the city and transit system on his own. But he still took me out exploring to both show and teach me. My father held his cane in one hand and my arm in the other, telling me how to get where we were going, and it was my job to get us there safely. It was a sight to behold – a youngster leading a blind...

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“Before Spitting, Be Prepared” – An Informative Sequel

When I authored “Before Spitting, Be Prepared” for my family, Ancestory.com aka Ancestry had provided me with information about 159 possible 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th cousins. Because more and more people are having their DNA collected and added to the database, I was recently provided with an updated list of 414 matches for 4th cousin or closer. When including potential 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th cousins, my list of people with common DNA is now well over 6000 long.

This past week, a new 1st cousin Susan K. in Texas sent me a message trying to figure out how we were specifically related to each other. I told her what I knew and sent her my family story and my included Christian testimony. After a few exchanges, we had a very long and congenial telephone chat.

Susan is 65 years old and both her father and mother have passed on. Ancestry’s results indicate that she is not genetically related to anyone on her father’s side, but she is closely related to me. In fact, except for my grandson who is in the database, Susan is closer to me genetically than any of the other 6000+ matches.

Reviewing the Ancestry data together, it appears that one of my deceased brothers on my dad’s side impregnated her mother. Susan had already determined from other sources that both of our families had strong roots in Brooklyn, New York City at the time she was conceived.

Susan was understandably bewildered. The loving man who raised her over the years was, according to the DNA data, not her biological father. I helped her absorb the DNA results but it was obvious that she was already several steps ahead of me.

I previously sent Susan my family story and testimony, and she not only read it, but told me that she also shared it with one or more family members. I took the telephone-call opportunity to remind Susan that the new DNA information did not change who she was before God or before every good human being. She is a bright business lady and understood that. I invited her to contact me again if she ever wanted to.

This follow-on story is another reminder that when we spit for a DNA test and database, we may be very surprised at what is uncovered.

However, that is not the reason why I am providing this brief update. I want to pass along that I am so glad I put my family story and testimony in print. I am getting an increasing number of inquiries about my family’s history and heritage because of my inclusion in Ancestry’s database, and every one of these contacts has enabled me to pass along my family story and the included Christian message of faith and salvation.

For those of you contemplating DNA testing and research, you might consider preparing your family history as you know and want to provide it, and weave your Christian testimony into the story. I have found it very easy to pass my family history to those inquiring about it, along with a Christian message and my testimony. Food for thought.

Steve McEvoy
 
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