It has been a long slide down the slippery DNA slope ever since I first sent my vial to ancestryDNA. Oh my goodness – so many matches. While I was delighted to recognize some of them, I have long suspected most were superfluous, added by ancestryDNA’s desire to impress me. I needed to develop a system to separate the “good” DNA from the “bad”, and to reconcile the results with my tree. So I convinced my mother to test (Thanks, Mom!), allowing me to focus on her side. Her line can best be described as very WASPy. This heritage has allowed me to develop a magnificent tree with many branch that stretch far back in time. The articles entitled “DNA of WAB” represents my attempt to make sense of her results.
My father’s side of the tree poses a far greater challenge. His own father was born of Askanasi Jewish parents and his mother was born of Slovakian immigrants. Not only is the tree very short, but the DNA results are garbled. However, I am not complaining. Some DNA success has already been achieved. It will simply take a higher level of understanding to further decode the DNA’s message.
One of the more interesting tools used is a computer program called “Genetic Affairs”. Usually, I have kept my research under wraps due to generalized internet paranoia. With this article, I am trying something new., and am sharing this link with the GA community as a way to share ideas.
