Sandy's Reunion with her Father
Donation protected
I didn't think that when I submitted my DNA to Ancestry nearly a year ago that I would get to be part of one of those mysterious family reunions, but it happened.
Curiously, my results indicated that I had a 3rd or 4th "unknown" cousin who was born in Taiwan. That didn't make much sense to me so I was compelled to dig further. That's when I "met" Sandy.
Through emails she shared that her biological father had been in the Navy and had actually been with her mother until Sandy was four months old, but then he was shipped out, never to be heard from again. Her mother eventually married and the family moved to Hawaii where Sandy was raised.
Even though she never knew her father, this 59 year old woman longed to find him. She revealed that she had been searching since 6th grade. She firmly believed that DNA was finally going to unlock the door.
It was easy enough for me to figure out which side of my family I needed to investigate, but the fact that we are not a closely knit family and never really knew much about our aunts, uncles and cousins, didn't help.
I started digging through records and while I wandered down some wrong paths, literally ending up at dead ends, I knew the answer was attainable.
Despite knowing our family members have a history of longevity, I still suspected that once we found our seaman, she would most likely be visiting a cemetery. Not SO!
As I got closer to our mystery man, I figured out that "Daddy" most certainly was alive and living in North Myrtle Beach, SC, quite a bit more than a "stone's throw" from Hawaii.
Sandy and her father have connected through nearly daily phone calls. While he had kept her a secret from his family all these years, at 80 years old, he has readily accepted the windfall of a daughter "found," even though he wasn't looking. In many ways, this unexpected connection has given him something to live for.
In November, Sandy is planning to make the trip to visit her father and to meet her three brothers and their families. This has necessitated the purchase of a $900 round trip ticket on her credit card and she will be taking off work without pay.
Obviously, household bills will continue to pile up and she will have numerous traveling expenses.
If any friends, relatives or simply those intrigued by long lost connections (as I am) can contribute to her "long lost family reunion," I know she would be deeply grateful. She has dreamed of this meeting for most of her life.
We don't have a lot of time to raise funds and I would be thankful for donations of any amount. It doesn't seem right for her to deal with years of credit card debt just to make this one meeting happen.
I also plan to make the trip to NMB while she is there. It will be fun to meet my 2nd cousin. (Ancestry said 3rd or 4th but we are even closer than that.) Our fathers were first cousins but 29 years apart and never really knew each other.
I hope to be able to share some vintage family pictures and stories and learn more about my Roberts ancestry.
Curiously, my results indicated that I had a 3rd or 4th "unknown" cousin who was born in Taiwan. That didn't make much sense to me so I was compelled to dig further. That's when I "met" Sandy.
Through emails she shared that her biological father had been in the Navy and had actually been with her mother until Sandy was four months old, but then he was shipped out, never to be heard from again. Her mother eventually married and the family moved to Hawaii where Sandy was raised.
Even though she never knew her father, this 59 year old woman longed to find him. She revealed that she had been searching since 6th grade. She firmly believed that DNA was finally going to unlock the door.
It was easy enough for me to figure out which side of my family I needed to investigate, but the fact that we are not a closely knit family and never really knew much about our aunts, uncles and cousins, didn't help.
I started digging through records and while I wandered down some wrong paths, literally ending up at dead ends, I knew the answer was attainable.
Despite knowing our family members have a history of longevity, I still suspected that once we found our seaman, she would most likely be visiting a cemetery. Not SO!
As I got closer to our mystery man, I figured out that "Daddy" most certainly was alive and living in North Myrtle Beach, SC, quite a bit more than a "stone's throw" from Hawaii.
Sandy and her father have connected through nearly daily phone calls. While he had kept her a secret from his family all these years, at 80 years old, he has readily accepted the windfall of a daughter "found," even though he wasn't looking. In many ways, this unexpected connection has given him something to live for.
In November, Sandy is planning to make the trip to visit her father and to meet her three brothers and their families. This has necessitated the purchase of a $900 round trip ticket on her credit card and she will be taking off work without pay.
Obviously, household bills will continue to pile up and she will have numerous traveling expenses.
If any friends, relatives or simply those intrigued by long lost connections (as I am) can contribute to her "long lost family reunion," I know she would be deeply grateful. She has dreamed of this meeting for most of her life.
We don't have a lot of time to raise funds and I would be thankful for donations of any amount. It doesn't seem right for her to deal with years of credit card debt just to make this one meeting happen.
I also plan to make the trip to NMB while she is there. It will be fun to meet my 2nd cousin. (Ancestry said 3rd or 4th but we are even closer than that.) Our fathers were first cousins but 29 years apart and never really knew each other.
I hope to be able to share some vintage family pictures and stories and learn more about my Roberts ancestry.
Organizer
Edie Roberts Jett
Organizer
North Myrtle Beach, SC
