Hey folks! Took me longer than I first anticipated, but I am happy to share Episode 2 of The DNA Journey video series with you here. Not sure how often some of you check your Notes feed, so I have to remind myself to create a post where you’ll get notifications automatically and can easily come here to check it out.
In the interim since my last episode went live, I’ve been practicing self-care after the election and focusing on other ways for me to express my concern for and dedication to my community. There are a lot of folks out here who are scared and angry, rightfully so. I’m trying to remind us to stay productive with all of that energy, but I don’t think the lid is going to stay on for very long. More than a few of my friends have been verbally or physically assaulted over the past few weeks, and I don’t see it getting any better in the foreseeable future. I’ve also stopped insisting upon viewing the late news every night. Being too plugged in to all of the asinine Cabinet nominations will only give me agita. I don’t need the hand-wringing or the stress, so I’m opting out. Too much runway between here and early January.
This research brings me joy. The past few weeks have been a lot of cleaning up information on some of my DNA cousins’ trees that was not pointing to our family connections. Too many people with nearly identical names, but “the math wasn’t mathing,” as we say. So I’ve been pruning the bad leads and reconnecting branches with the correct info. Still no major breakthroughs, but at least some of the DNA cousins are better connected to each other. Eventually, that will point more concretely to one of my known relatives.
I am also fascinated by the number of cousins I have who are the product of warfare. I’ve got half-Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, French, German, and more family who are clearly the result of my enlisted relatives’ relationships. Given the vast number of my male relatives who have served, it may be a long while until I get all of them sorted out on my tree. But when I say to you that my family is the real United Colors of Benetton, believe it!
It pains me to think that, after that guy’s inauguration, it might be much harder for me to connect face-to-face with some of these cousins. Our government might not want to let them in the country, or let me back in when I return. I headed back to Philly from a media trip to Ghana in 2017 on the EXACT day when the last travel ban went into effect. I saw families at JFK looking hurt and confused as Customs agents were forced to explain why they were being delayed. It was TERRIBLE.
Ugh, there I go inadvertently caught up in this political moment, again.
Anyway, I wish each of you in this genealogy community a restful, peaceful start to the holidays. Let’s keep love on the menu, shall we?
And if you enjoy the video series and want to add me to your Giving Tuesday plans or other charitable contributions this season, your support is welcomed. Even switching from a free to a paid subscription helps keep this project moving. Thanks!
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