What a year

In early December my brother told me that his son had decided to do a DNA test with a company called 23 and me. My response was that should be interesting. I have from time to time taken an interest but have not done very much in tracing family history. I did start on a site called Family Search and had found some interesting links on a site called a Billion Graves. However, I had not added any information or looked at these sites for at least 7 or 8 months. It might be interesting to find out some of the things my brother's son found out, so I said when he gets the results maybe he would be willing to share some information. My brother said he would ask.

In late December my brother phoned at said that his son had received his results, and he shared. It was interesting in that it confirmed an Irish connection and confirmed a Polish (now) but at the time an Austrian Hungarian connection along with a British and French connection. My brother also said that there were 1080 third and fourth cousins listed for my nephew with connections. As I listened to some of the names I recognized many but not all. I thought if my Nephew wins the lottery he will have all these people in contact with him.

About two weeks after Christmas, my brother phoned to say that a person had been in touch with my nephew and wanted to know if my nephew had a connection to a family from the town my father was from. This person had been looking, along with another person for two years and my nephew was a link they hoped would lead to more information on their family. It did for both people. After some phoning and talking to an elderly aunt, we were able to confirm that one of the people was a long lost cousin from an aunt who had died in childbirth in the '50s. So arrangements are being made for the reunion of the great aunt and her nephew and we hope that the story has a happy ending.

The other person engaged in the search did contact me via FamilySearch but I ignored the message because I had not been on the site for at least six months. With the investigation going on about my long lost cousin I went back to FamilySearch and finally saw the message in mid-January. I responded and after much investigation, it appears that I  have a half brother who is three years older than I am and who was born in England during the war years. My brothers and I find it (after our initial shock) interesting. 

Since January I have been in contact with my half brother and we have shared our stories both via email and by phone.  He led an interesting life. One question he asked me was "Did our father know about his child in England?" I said, "No because if he did, I and my brothers would not be here."  I hope one day to meet my half brother, but he has not shared the revelation of his birth father with his daughters, sons or any of his mom's relatives who did not know of his situation. He did share with his sister, who was as surprised as he was. 2019 is shaping up to be a very interesting and exciting year.