A little more thankful this year.

[JT Bagwell]

This year I am just a little more thankful. Besides all of the normal stuff to be thankful for, Wife, kids, family, job, health and giant Bass, this year I am Thankful that this spring my wife bought me an Ancestry DNA kit for my birthday. We kept seeing the commercials and I was always kind of half jokingly telling her that I wanted one.

 

Little did I know, that this thing would change my life in a great way. Besides telling me that I was 2/3 English and 1/3 Irish, it also matches you with other people that have taken the test that share DNA with you (I didn't even know it did this when I sent it in). It linked me with some people that I had never met but were closely related to me. Because of this, I was able to get in contact with a few people that helped me track down my little sister that I had given up on trying to find 20+ years ago, when I didn't have the internet and people were not very cooperative. Our dad passed away when we were little kids.

 

I found a guy that I knew was linked to my dad's side of the family but had never spoken to before. After a brief quiz to make
sure that I was legit, he gave me his phone number. He is married to my aunt and I believe it was that night, I called and was able to speak to him and my aunt (dad's sister) for the first time in my life. It was a pretty cool experience and I will forever be grateful to them both for the information they gave me on that call.

 

Armed with what I had learned on the phone call, I went to Facebook and then to Instagram and within an hour or so I was able to find the girl that I was sure was my sister. I sent her a DM to confirm who she was, but it was so late at night that normal people were in bed sleeping.

 

Sure enough, the next morning she replied and I shocked her with the fact that she had a big brother that she never knew existed.

 

So out of those semi-annoying little commercials for I Ancestry DNA kits, I was able to find my sister that I am now extremely close with, I got a new little niece that I never knew I had and a pretty good brother in-law. I also have been able to stay in touch with my aunts (dad's sisters) and they sent me some pretty cool stuff from my dad.

 

Since this is a fishing forum and this isn't really a fishing post, let me add that they first place we ever met in person
was the Bass Pro Shops Anglers Inn in Springfield, Missouri. Now it has some fishing in it. (that part is true though)

 

So that's what I am thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

[Mobasser]

Awesome! Incredible story. 

[tander]

What a great story !!!! Thank you for sharing.

[Derek1]

Thats a real nice ending to that story. 

[Falkus]

Awesome story man -----

 

"When one door closes, fortune will usually open another." 

[volzfan59]

Great story! At 40, I met a 1/2 sister that I never knew existed.

[Bankbeater]

That's a great story with a wonderful ending.

[Paul Roberts]

Very cool! Wonderful! 

[A-Jay]

Very Nice.

The interwebs & social media have certainly made 'connecting' a completely different deal than in days past.

?

A-Jay

[scaleface]

Great story .

In 1971   a first cousin of mine got pregnant at the age of 14 . Her parents took her to a different state where she gave birth to a boy and was immediately put up for adoption .   Now a grown man  he took a DNA test and located a relative out west who then introduced him to me  because I am the un-official family historian   . I knew   who his mother was but  didnt know how to handle it . I contacted her sister and she took over from there .He now calls me uncle and plans on visiting and go bass fishing . Its amazing what science has done in my life-time .

[Sam]

Congrats.

 

Very happy for you and your sister.

 

Life can take many twists and turns, some good and some bad.

 

Glad you got some good twists.

 

Tight Lines and Happy Holidays!

[Big Rick]

Wow, awesome story. Affected me so much that I ordered 2 kits from Ancestry. They're on sale, of course. While I don't have any lost siblings I do have a rich history that needs some holes filled.  Thanks, @JT Bagwell, for the push.....

[J.Vincent]

Amazing story, and I've always been impressed with just how much we discover about ourselves with ancestry DNA kit. My mother purchased my kit last year and afterwards , we were able to connect with family members who had photos of my great grandfather who was an avid bass angler in Florida. They had more information about his life than we knew , and we even found pictures of him from newspapers.com where he did an interview with Salty Sal and other photos of him holding up a 10lb trophy bass. It's just amazing what we can discover, and in my case it sort of helps me further understand and make sense of my love for the outdoors and bass fishing. But I don't want to take away from your story, because it's genuinely monumental to find a lost family member and something to be very thankful for !

 

Congtatulations and Happy Holidays !