I interrupt my regularly scheduled gloom & doom for a small sweet story. I've been working on my family tree for years. I'm on both 23andMe & Ancestry & have reached out to DNA cousins to see what they know about their families in hopes it would help build my tree. 1/ 🧵 - ThreadSky

gpgomez.bsky.social • 36 days ago

I interrupt my regularly scheduled gloom & doom for a small sweet story.

I've been working on my family tree for years. I'm on both 23andMe & Ancestry & have reached out to DNA cousins to see what they know about their families in hopes it would help build my tree.

1/ 🧵

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rhondawolfson.bsky.social•36 days ago

What a great story; I'm sure this woman was thrilled to hear from you.

Years ago, my late uncle also worked on a family tree. He found relatives in Australia (!!!) who made their way to Canada for a family reunion.

origamilady79.bsky.social•36 days ago

Nice!!

gpgomez.bsky.social•36 days ago

Sometimes people ignore my message, once in awhile they respond with a bit of information. In the case of the latter, I always promise to get back to them. If I figure out how it is we are connected.

2/🧵

gpgomez.bsky.social•36 days ago

Back in 2021, I reached out to a woman who'd listed my great-grandmother's maiden name in her profile. The woman was in her 80s & it had been her mom's maiden name. She had no idea of her ancestry other than a couple of grandparents & a couple of last names. But she was super nice & enthusiastic.
3🧵

gpgomez.bsky.social•36 days ago

Anyway, I made my usual promise to get back if I could figure out our shared ancestor. It took me 4 years, but a couple of weeks ago I finally figured it out The lady and I are fifth cousins, and I can trace our mutual family tree back to the early 1700s in Sicily.
4/🧵

gpgomez.bsky.social•36 days ago

I reached out to her to let her know and give her the family tree information. But then I didn't hear anything back, and given that this lady was so enthusiastic in 2021, and so quick and eager to respond back then, I started to worry. She was in her 80s. What if she had died in the meantime?☹️
5/🧵

gpgomez.bsky.social•36 days ago

Anyway, she just responded this morning. She is delightfully thrilled & excited &wants to hear all about how I figured it out. It's adorable. It turns out that in the meantime she has been studying Italian, hoping she could better understand the old records. (Did I mention she's in her 80s?) 🥰
6🧵

gpgomez.bsky.social•36 days ago

All her life she's wanted to know more about her Sicilian ancestry but like so many people hit a brick wall. I'm so happy I could give her the information & make her day.🙂

Lol, no one in my immediate family is as excited about my research as she is so she gave me something, too. 🙂
/End 🧵

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