How far back?
I hope this post finds you well.
My dad went to the hospital to get his blood tested for bacteria. He is 86 years old and had pneumonia. I was worried but was confident our health care system would be able to assist him. When he came back, I thought he would say something about his health or when the results would be ready. Instead, he mentioned that the hospital staff asked him some questions before drawing blood. One of the questions was “what is your ancestry”. I was surprised, it seemed strange. I wondered if that was even legal, … whatever. What’s important is that he got tested and the results came back indicting no bacteria. Whew!
Since then, I began wondering just what they mean by ancestry and how far back do you want to go. My recent ancestors have been in America for a couple of hundred years. Before that, Great Britain, I think and before that, well … I just don’t know.
Enthusiastic, I decided to have my DNA analyzed. I don’t want to give the doctors the wrong info when I am asked that question in the future. I signed up with a DNA analysis company on the internet. As I was filling out the required information, I came across a question that resonated with me. The question was “How far back do you want to go?” I thought about this and decided I want to go far back. So, I answered, I want to go way, way, WAY BACK. Hoping they will get the message. I want to know where my ancestors originated, several thousand years ago.
I received the DNA kit, did the swab thing, sent it back and proceeded to wait. According to the web site, it takes 6 weeks. After 6 weeks … nothing. 7 weeks and still nothing. I thought they had lost my sample. Then, after 12 weeks, I get the email. It said, “Congratulation, your results are in. We are sorry it took longer than normal, but your request required us to do some further testing. Please use the link below to view your results.” I was very excited; I’m actually going to find out where I’m originally from. I excitedly press the link.
I get to the DNA site home page, sign in and it takes me directly to the map. I quickly expand the browser, so I can see more land. I looked at the European section. But there was nothing. I was expecting some circle or colored section, indicating the region I am from. I thought, maybe they made a mistake. I leaned back in my chair to ponder this and get a broader view. I happened to glance to my left and there over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was a colored circle.
“What’s this!”, I said mumbling. I grab my mouse, move the cursor to the Atlantic Ocean onto the circle and clicked. A pop-up window appeared, “We viewed your request to go way, WAY BACK as an unusual one, but decided to go with it and to see what happens. We were very surprised at the result, and we are sure you will be too. Congratulations, you will be proud to know that you are a direct descendant of the Guppy.”