When I first started playing with DNA for genetic genealogy purposes, it was extremely overwhelming. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and was totally lost. As a newbie I did a lot of things wrong but I also did a lot of things right. I asked questions, read blogs and kept learning until I thought I had everything figured out.
I remember getting my results and looking at my ethnicity report. Then looking at the my DNA matches. I vaguely remember thinking, ‘Okay, now what??’
That’s when I realized I had barely started to scratch the surface. The learning curve can be exhaustive. Just keeping up with what’s going on can be a stressful.
Things seem to change everyday, sometimes every hour. You send messages to matches and never hear from them. Then one day you get a message from someone out of the blue. If at all possible I try to at least acknowledge their message if I don’t have time to answer their questions.
I’ve been on this journey for a while now and I’m still learning new things. If there is one lesson that you will learn over and over again on this journey.
Patience is a Virtue
I’ve been doing genealogy for 40+ years. I haven’t been a beginner in a long time. Feeling like I was back at the starting line was very frustrating. Part of the reason that I wanted write this blog. But as life always reminds us, you never know what is going to come your way. Sometimes good, sometimes not.
Its been a while since I last posted on the site. Life has thrown a lot of challenges my way since my last post. Genealogy is about family and understanding who we are and how we got to this place and time. Its not forgetting the roles our ancestors played in getting us to this place and time.
COVID-19 is a reminder that life can be heartbreakingly short. That patience can get us through the tough times. It also reminds us to take some time with those we love. Be patient while we wait in our cars for appointments. Take some time to connect with others in our family that we don’t see often enough.
Take advantage of any free time you have to make those connections. Plan to get together when you can. Be patient and take the time to reconnect. Its worth the time and effort.