Mud in the Water

There is Mud in the Water 

and the Magic is Gone.

Part I of II

Read Part II

There is "Mud in the Water" with my genealogy journey.   There are times when you hit a dead end and just can not find any more documentation.  At other times, you find too much aggression from others that refuse to work together or see past the family stories.   And, then there are times that others infiltrate and destroy lifetimes of work and/or destroy one's character just for ignorance or control.   Genealogy can be tough.   Secrets.  Labels.  Shared Ancestors.  Family Stories.  All of these can be contentious but none worse than being cyberbullied.

During May 2025, I was cyberbullied to the point of major anguish.

Being an advocate for Appalachia was always going to make me a lightening rod.  I knew that going in.  I can handle the attacks on Appalachia and Appalachians because I present facts vs Hollywood stories and social media lies which usually shuts down any argument.   It's the personal attacks from keyboard warriors, the brutal lies, scary threats, and the disgusting attacks on my character that I will not allow.  No one should.

52 Ancestors Week 6: Surprise

 

This week’s theme is “Surprise.”   The DNA surprise when your family tree takes a sharp turn. 

We've all heard the stories, the slightly awkward jokes about getting a DNA test and discovering your parent is not your parent.  Here's how I found out...

I'd always been curious about my ancestry. I grew up with such dark brown eyes that they were almost black.  My parents had the bluest of blue eyes.  When Ancestry.com started heavily advertising DNA kits for a reasonable price, I instantly bought one and got DNA tested. 

To say that I DNA tested to find out who my parents were is truly only part of the story though.  I was convinced that I was Italian.  From an early age, I was always told that I had so much Italian "about me".  With my Dad's name as Craig and my Mom's Maiden Name as Bonner.... I was not understanding where any Italian would come from.  But that is a blog post for another time....

Note: I would never have done a DNA test if my dad were still alive. It's also important to state that "my dad" is the man who raised me from birth. "My father" is my biological father, as determined by a DNA test.

So, I had a guess who my biological father was.  I actually had it narrowed down to three people with one being in the lead.   Why?  His picture!

Click on Read More to see the picture....