LJI 10 Week 18: Family Harvest

[alycewilson]

This is my entry for Week 18 of LJ Idol, Season 10 (therealljidol). We partnered up. I wrote about the topic, "The distance between us."

Comments

[favoritebean]

I really need to send in my Ancestry DNA kit. I've heard a lot of people talk about 23andme, but I wonder would it work with just a maternal line.

Like you, I miss the days where I could cuddle my child for hours. Now, she's almost as tall as me, so that's not so easy.

Nice take on the prompt!

[alycewilson]

My brother used 23andme, but as far as I can tell, the only thing he got out of that that I didn't get from Ancestry.com was information about his supposedly Neanderthal traits. He says it also can connect you with DNA relatives, but the reason I went with Ancestry was that you can also look at their family trees. For example, one of the second cousins I discovered is a descendant of my Pop-Pop's sister! (Which means, I believe, that she's actually a first cousin a few steps removed, not a second cousin, but anyway.) The distant cousin who contacted me gave me steps to follow to compare our DNA through a free service that provides more details about how you're connected. If it works, I might see if my brother can do that, as well. I'm actually a little frustrated with him that he didn't talk to me about it before he did 23andme, because I would have urged him to do Ancestry instead

[favoritebean]

This is really good to know. I've got an Ancestry DNA kit that's been sitting here for a year. Guess I should send it off.

I don't have any close male relatives, so I guess 23andme is out.

[halfshellvenus]

While your mother may have been uncertain whether her own mother loved her, it's clear she made sure her children knew her love without question.

The richness of that is apparent all over this story. :)

[alycewilson]

Yes, she did! Even when she got upset with us, you only had to sit in your room for a while before she was at the door, wanting to make up and give us hugs. One of the sweetest people I have ever met.

[i_17bingo]

This is a really touching blend of motherhood and daughterhood that comes as close to anything to explaining something I'll never be able to get. Well done!

[alycewilson]

Thanks so much. To me, as I make sense of family history, it helps me to understand the links that we all have between each other. Traits and values that get passed on from generation to generation become clear. I find it comforting.

[rayaso]

I loved the phrase "First crawling, then running, the movement always away." That sums up one of the aspects of being a parent. I loved the way you mixed your DNA information in with the rest of your entry.

[dmousey]

Lovingly done. Wonderfully written...hugs and peace~~~