Heinz 57 roots

0

Trees. All sorts of trees. Evergreen, coniferous, shoe, family, all sorts of trees. The evergreen and coniferous feed the air we breathe. The shoe tree tells us where our shoes are located. And that family tree tells us just who we are and where we came from.

DNA is sort a tree. It holds all the things that make up you and me. Things determined way back on that family tree. As the family tree shows our sides of the families, our DNA shows what we get from those families that make up who we are as well as a bit of whom our children will be.

So I did 23&Me as well as Ancestry.com. Of course, my DNA matched on both. I am likely to be afraid of heights, have blue eyes and blond hair, dislike cilantro, be a light sleeper and have a real like for coffee. All true. It was rather like reading a book of me that no one could really know, yet my DNA told the story of me without me telling it. Hm. DNA.

I am a mixture of about every culture that inhabits the earth. I like that I am not a purebred. In fact, none of us are. Can’t deny it. It is in our DNA. I found that this information was humbling. It ties me more closely to every person in this world. We all have a tiny amount of us that comes from Africa. I was even tickled to find that I had an equally tiny bit from China. I am a mixed breed! As Dad would say “a Heinz 57”.

I have found new cousins and those I haven’t seen since I was much younger. I have pieces of my ancestral history filled in, and I can add to that chain with what I have access to. I am on the discovery route to who I am. I am on my discover ‘root’.

My son did his history as well. It has been interesting to see what matches and what does not. Obviously, that other half of parent-pairs adds to a new genetic tree. Some of our traits are the same and some are definitely from his dad. I guess we never really know where we came from and who we are without investigating. I know who I am more than ever now because I checked my genes.

Yes, I took root in the past.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_drakecolumnPRINT-3-1-1-4.jpg

By Pamela Loxley Drake

A Grandparent’s Voice

Pamela Loxley Drake is a former resident of Darke County and is the author of Neff Road and A Grandparent Voice blog. She can be reached at [email protected]. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

No posts to display