Dna tests

Years ago there was a picture in Look Magazine that looked exactly like me. The gal was even dressed similar to what I'd wear and was carrying a purse like one of mine. When my Mother saw it, she showed it to me and asked me when I was in Boston. Sorry, Mom, never was.

DNA test, I'll pass. My sister has done family histories back 4 or 5 generations.
 
Last edited:
Back in 1977 I was staying at the law school to study for the bar exam. One day I was walking through the parking lot and I thought I was looking in a mirror. There was a guy walking toward me who I swore looked just like me, except he towered over me. I guess I must have been too shocked to flag him down and find out who he was.

But the important thing is when looking at pictures of my dad and me at similar ages, there is no doubt as to my paternity.
 
Considering my "youthful romantic history" I wouldn't submit a sample for any amount of cash. I don't need any 40-something guy or gal calling me "dad" after all these years. A buddy of mine did it some years back and found out not only dad was catting about. Has a whole 'nother family on the Gulf Coast of Florida turns out. Ignorance is peaceful. Joe

That happened to a friend. Married twice, no kids, he figured unscientifically,that he was sterile. Now in his 70's, couple years back he finds out that he wasn't. One nighter result.
 
back in the 1970's a family friend did the genealogy thing, only to find out her great great grandmother was lady of the night... always made me not want to look... my big sister on the other hand has done the deep dive including DNA.. I refuse.. not without a warrant... family tree goes back too many generations for me to worry about anyway.
 
My freshman year of college I was returning to my apartment early one Monday morning after spending the weekend at my folks' house. As I walked through the complex I encountered a girl walking in the opposite direction who burst into a huge smile and enthusiastically said good morning. I was really shy and introverted and managed a little smile and mumbled hello and walked on by.

The next day I was sitting on a bench on campus reading when I realized there was someone standing in front of me. I looked up and swear it was like looking in the mirror. The guy was looking at me like he wanted to take a swing at me. He says, "This has got to stop." I have no idea what he's talking about, until he says, "You're ruining my social life!"

I just sat there dumbstruck. After a bit he just shook his head and walked away. Never saw him again.
 
I hope my daughter never does the DNA thing unless she want to meet between 6 & 8 half brothers & sisters. When I was married to her father I knew of 3 of his previous spawn. Seems there are several more.
My daughter is the youngest and the only one he had any contact with other than being the sperm donor.
 
Last edited:
Son just called and asked if I know these people, in the extended family, as he dropped some names that he received after a DNA test.
No mysteries in the clan but he never spoke with them.. until today.
He wanted to make sure they were who they said they were.
What a great surprise.

Sent him some photos as we have them all.
He's named after his great great grandfather.
He was a chess grandmaster.
Told my boy about the first time I checkmated him at age 12.
I smiled and then said... didn't you take my black bishop earlier?
How did my red one switch to black?
He smiled and said, "just wanted to see if you were paying attention and made the most of the gift".

I struggle with a yo-yo these days. :D
 
Last edited:
People who look alike, nearly perfectly,
share the same or very similar DNA a
new study reveals. They're dopplegangers.

Those persons may live in the same country
or far, far away...
Interesting that you should mention this. My gf, who teaches molecular biology and genetics at university, was telling me about this a couple of days ago and sent me a NY Times article on it. Here's a (gift) link to it.

Golddollar said:
...when looking at pictures of my dad and me at similar ages, there is no doubt as to my paternity.
When I saw a pic of my biological father, (taken in his late 20's) I had the same reaction when I compared it to a pic of myself around 15.
 
When we were in Ireland the B&B lady said to my wife that she must be there looking for her relatives because there was a woman in the town that looked just like her . She even knew the family name that was my mother in laws.
I asked my wife if it was ok if I tried to work out a trade.
 
Ancestry.com sent me a picture of my nearest living relative:

i-FhZQf24-S.jpg
 
I met a new 70+ year old cousin this summer at my sisters memorial. Turns out one of my aunts and uncles did some hanky panky early on and gave the results up for adoption. Nice lady. Actually it hardly raised an eye brow in our family. We will accept any one. Get remarried and the new wife has kid, they are 100% family. My mom got remarried, not only did I get a new step dad, I got a new step mom and another step dad. My step brothers' real mom and her husband kind of adopted me too.

The first time I met the step moms husband, I came home to find an old cowboy sleeping on the couch in my living room. In the morning my step brother introduced me. They had been out fishing and drinking beer the day before. Bill Rambo (I kid you not) was a WWII marine. He said he was on Mount Suribachi when they raise the flag. My brother said why didn't you go over there. Bill said all I wanted to do was sit down and smoke a cigarette. I still have the Winchester model 21 he left me when he past.
 
Took one three years ago and I've built a huge tree since then.

My daughter adopted a young dog in Brooklyn last year that looks like a golden retriever and on a lark she had it tested. June is mostly Great Pyrenees with a touch of Lab who was picked up as a stray in Dallas. Yesterday she was contacted by the owner of a dog who's dna test shows him being Junes brother ,also picked up as a stray in Dallas who was adopted from a rescue in Washington state.
Even a dog has no privacy now [emoji23]
I'm still suspicious of DNA testing to determine ancestry. When you get tested, the results are compared to a database, and the information in that database may be incomplete or poorly gathered, which in either case makes it much less accurate, and sometimes useless.

Case in point, my daughter found a rescued dog, got it from a pound in Miami. He's turned into the most beautiful and smart dog I think I've ever seen, has the look and behavior of a smooth-coat Border Collie, but obviously has something else in the mix, maybe terrier of some sort. She sent off for a DNA test to determine the breed mix, and it came back showing him to be 68% Chow. No thick red coat, no tail that curls over his back, no black tongue, and he weighs about 1/2 what a full-grown Chow would weigh and is a much lighter framed dog. Take a look at the pics below and tell me if you see any Chow in him. I look more like a Chow than this dog.:D

My natural curiosity has never been tweaked by DNA findings. We did our family tree the hard way, and sure not interested in expanding it using a method that I don't trust. I'm old.
My 95-year-old mother has been a family genealogist for 70 years, and has traced several of our family lines back to the late 1600's, and one of them to the 1500's. She did it all through court records, land deeds, family Bibles, newspaper records, word-of-mouth histories and genealogical links from others who do the same type research. I don't trust the "23-and-me" approach, because I don't know how complete or accurate the database is that gets used.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0588.jpg
    IMG_0588.jpg
    132.5 KB · Views: 33
  • IMG_0904.jpg
    IMG_0904.jpg
    108.7 KB · Views: 30
Last edited:
Back
Top