Taking the Shots: New Family??

HEY! HEY! Welcome back to the blog.. Many new things have popped up and new things have changed in my so called crazy life. So lets get to the story....

Flashback to Christmas of 2017, my parents, aunts and uncles decided to get my grandparents the AncestryDNA kit, which allows for people to spit in a cup and it is then sent of to the lab to be tested. The tests then share exactly where our ancestors are from. Something cool the test also does is it allows for the opportunity to match other DNA strands with others who have done the test. This allows for you to find cousins, and other family members. And that's exactly what happened to us.

A little side note, my grandma on my moms side, Debbie, is the only one left out of her side of the family. My grandma had an older sister named Pam, a younger brother named Bobby, and her younger sister Cindy. They have all passed away, as well as her parents.

So, my grandma and grandpa sent the test in and received they then received their results back. There were a few matches, but not a whole ton of new family that we received.

Jump to Father's Day which was in the month of June. Another person had received the same test by AncestryDNA from his sons. He received his results back as well and through the app that you can get for the test, it stated that there was a 99% match with someone who could possibly be a family member.

My grandma Debbie also received the same notification. This man named Mark ended up messaging my grandma. They were both a match for being HIGHLY RELATED! Basically saying they were family. They talked for a few months through the app and then they finally found each other on Facebook. They talked for a few months and planned a day where they could meet each other.

On September 20th, 2018, my grandma, grandpa and I drove up to Salt Lake City, Utah. The next day was the day my grandma Debbie and her long lost brother were going to meet.

September 21st, 2018, was a day that I would of never thought would of happened in our family. It was such a great experience to be able to witness this sight.

How did my grandma end up having a long-lost brother? Well, my great-grandmother, Grandma Dottie and my great-grandfather, Grandpa Charlie, were not doing so well in their marriage. They were fixed to have a divorce. Apparently, my grandma Dottie ended up being pregnant and couldn't raise 5 kids, so she and grandpa Charlie ended up giving up the baby that Dottie was pregnant with (which is also Mark). For years my grandma and Mark never knew each other. The only way that they found out that they were related was through AncestryDNA.

I also don't believe in coincidences... How is it that both Mark and my grandma Debbie had the same exact test? If either one of them used a different DNA test company, they would of never found out they were family.

Hopefully this all makes sense. I know I am still kind of trying to process such a thing, and I can't imagine what my grandma Debbie is even going through as she finds out she has a brother.

It's amazing to know that we have great technology which makes these things possible. Below are some pictures of when they first met, and the two families which just became one.

Love, Hannah