When Covid-19 first arrived in California and I began to shelter, little did I realize we would still be restricted going into our seventh month. Like others, I miss socializing, going out places, seeing friends and family. These connections are important to our life and our well being, but most of us have learned to adjust.
We cannot physically be with people, but we are fortunate to continue contact through email, facebook, Zoom and similar apps. What I came to understand, though, is that in some ways I was able to expand my contacts. Now that my life wasn’t filled with responsibilities and planned events, I had more time to wonder about people I hadn’t seen for some time. I had time to read Facebook and send messages to friends and family who lived far from me.
This became clear to me one day in April when I received an unexpected message from a woman via Ancestry.com who was searching for her biological father. I had my DNA tested three years ago. It came out as I much as I expected. I am 23% English, 35% Scandinavian and 40% Germanic. My maternal grandfather came over from Norway when he was 7 years old, my paternal grandmother’s parents were German, and my paternal grandfather gave me my maiden name of Drake. Of course I must be related to the English pirate, Sir Francis. In addition to receiving results of my heritage, I am also enrolled in the genome, which links my DNA to others who have also been tested. Every week I get notices of someone who shares part of my DNA; usually these are small amounts, and I am told the person is my 3rd-5th cousin. Most of them are Norwegian.
This woman and I, who I will call Linda to protect her identity, had about a 35% DNA match which was way more than I had ever seen. Her father had the same last name as my Norwegian grandfather, Formoe. She wanted to know if I could help her. I knew I could. I had been researching my ancestry for some time both on Ancestry.com and Heritage.com, but I also had information my grandfather had left me. Grandpa had 12 brothers and sisters; his father had kept a written list of all their births in the family Bible. I had the list Grandpa had copied from it. He also had written a short biography of his time on the homestead in North Dakota and told where each of his brothers and sisters had gone, as he was one of the youngest. I typed up the list, scanned the biography, and sent it to her. I told her she was probably related to one of my grandfather’s brothers. I got an excited message back.
Linda had also given me her bio. father’s first name, and the more I thought about it, a memory came back to me from the past. When I was still living at home, some relatives of my grandparents came to visit, and later my family went to see them in Los Angeles where they lived at the time. Ralph had had cancer and used a battery-run voice box to talk. I was impressed because he traveled to schools to tell students the dangers of smoking. Naomi had red hair and was very outgoing. Naomi was my grandmother’s cousin and Ralph was related to my grandfather. My grandparents were the ones who had introduced them years ago. I thought it was said that they had two sons. I went on Ancestry and checked. I found out that Ralph was the son of grandpa’s brother Engebret Formoe and he and Naomi did have sons. One of the names was a match.
I emailed Linda with my discovery. When she answered me back she said she had recently located two half brothers. It turns out, my new information wasn’t a revelation as much as a confirmation. In her next message she said my description was the same as her brothers remembered of their grandparents.
So now I had another connection. A great-grandfather I shared with a woman in Texas. For Linda, however, a more significant one was made. She had found two brothers who were able to tell her about her father, information she had craved for so many years. I was happy for her and happy to have played a small part in her search.
If there is one positive understanding that can come from this pandemic, I think it is the awareness of what is important in life. When you take away materialistic needs, it becomes clear food, our health, safety and education of children are paramount. And the connection to people. Not only ones we know, but people all over the world who are undergoing the hardships caused by the pandemic. Stripped of cultural and national demarcations that divide us, it makes me think of the line from a popular song,
“We are only human after all.”
From My Perspective 