This Month's Roundup & Reflection

 This February has been both productive and frustrating as the first of the month started out with a painful back and leg that turned out to be sciatica, a first for me. I usually heal rather quickly from any strains and pains, but this is a whole other ballgame - painful and limiting. I have to say, as one who tries to find the positive in any given situation, there is a silver lining of sorts, the opportunity to dig in deeper into my family history... which I love.
Although I work in some aspect of my research each day, sometimes it is difficult to find the longer hours needed to accommodate the more complex projects that seem to require an endless time-frame.
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A year ago, I was able to correspond and establish a relationship with precious relatives in Cuba, after decades of restrictions between our countries. It is marvelous to be in communication and establish a deeper bond between our families, which I know my late mother would have been ecstatic after so many years apart due to circumstances not in any of our control. My cousins and I share a profound love of family and desire to keep our families connected. Oh how I would love for us to be closer geographically. It has also brought a link between us in our search of our genealogical roots, which has been awesome.
As a result, for the first time, I have been able to further our family research. It really is one small piece at a time but I am thankful it is moving forward despite the ever changing directions as I go. So far, I have discovered two new surnames to add to my family tree and new locations to research. Happy dance time...I'm so thankful for any discovery.
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This month, I viewed a few educational DNA webinars by several excellent DNA teachers such as Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist... on Legacy Family Tree  and I was so inspired by Diahann Southard as she shared her own personal journey with her Mother as she spoke about 'The Glue That Holds Families Together' at  RootsTech.  Diahann, has done many lectures on the subject of DNA and has shared her expertise on the subject in several webinars on Legacy as well.

As a result, I am currently reviewing and setting up my own tracking system as I apply the  suggestions by the experts. There is such a variety of spreadsheets and forms to choose from that I hope to assemble a few that will work best for my needs to keep track of my DNA results and other kits that I am currently waiting on results from testing companies.

I believe this will be an interesting year and an exciting road ahead as I continue to persevere on my journey, interjecting DNA results with my research as I learn, study and review comparisons and document my progress along the way. Most of all I want to share this process with those who are new in any aspect of family history research and encourage others to not give up or get discouraged in their own endeavors... there are ebbs and tides and sometimes we just need an extra little nudge in the right direction.   🗝