My Ancestry

Ancestry
Since I was a teenager, I’ve had people ask me about my ethnicity. A perfect stranger came up to me in the grocery store to ask me if I’m Arabic or maybe Italian. A cashier at a gas station asked me if I’m from southern India. One of my dad’s coworkers asked if my mom is from another country after seeing a picture of me on my dad’s desk. Friends have joked that my parents probably secretly adopted me from a random country my dad visited when he was in the Navy. For over 10 years, people have seemed fascinated by my ethnicity, and over time, it started to make me curious too.

Ancestry Collage1
My dad has always been interested in finding out more about our family’s ancestry, but as more and more people began asking me about my ethnicity, he and I both started to get even more intrigued. My dad knew the basics about his own family – they mostly come from England – but no one really knows much about my mom’s family. My grandparents have all passed away, and my great grandparents were gone long before I was born, so we didn’t really have anyone to turn to for more info.

Ancestry Collage2
Then, for Christmas, my parents got me an awesome gift – a DNA test from Ancestry.com. I spit into a little tube, mailed it off, and about 6 weeks later, I had my results. For the first time, we were actually able to take a look at where I come from, and in turn, it’s a look at where they come from too (see, I wasn’t actually adopted from a random country during my dad’s Navy days!). It was really cool to see a breakdown of my ethnicity, especially because it helps me to feel a little closer to the grandparents and great grandparents that I never really  got to know. It may sound a little cheesy, but now I feel like I have a better understanding of who I am, who my family is, and where we all come from.

So, how did it all break down?

Screen Shot 2015-03-18 at 7.07.16 PM
As expected, I’m mostly from Great Britain, but I was surprised to see Scandinavia on there, and it makes me want to go visit there even more than I already did. I also wasn’t too surprised to see that I’m 4% Middle Eastern, since that’s what people ask me about most often. Still, it is so cool to see a breakdown like this, and I hope I can continue to do some research to learn more about my ancestors, and what makes me, well, me.

Have you ever researched your ancestry? Ever had complete strangers come up to ask you about your ethnicity? Are you interested in learning more about your ancestors too?

Note: this is NOT a sponsored post – it’s just me talking about a product that I think is pretty cool.

8 Comments
  • Dani
    March 19, 2015

    I’ve always wanted to do this, since the ancestral history on my dad’s side is a little muddled… so cool!

    dani @ blog.shopdisowned.com

  • Laura @ Life with Lolo
    March 19, 2015

    This is so cool. I’ve always wanted to have this done to see the “melting pot” of my ancestry too. I know I have quite a bit of Danish ancestor-age on my mom’s side, but we have no clue about my dad’s side.

  • Amberly
    March 19, 2015

    In our church, we do a lot of genealogy work and stuff with our ancestry. We can track our ancestors going way back and do work to find more of our family tree all the time. It’s pretty cool stuff!!!

  • Erin Gray
    March 19, 2015

    That IS a really cool and interesting product!

  • Dara
    March 20, 2015

    I’ve been curious too and been meaning to ask if you are middle eastern (or at least partially). I didn’t do it, though, because I was afraid it would sound rude and you’d be offended. Great to know now 🙂

  • Camille
    March 31, 2015

    Yes, it definitely is cool. I’ve also always wondered about the same thing. A lot of people ask me too if I have a different race. This is definitely the answer. I wish my parents would give me a gift like this as well. lol.

  • Denise Tanton
    July 3, 2016

    This is weird but… it’s Fourth of July weekend and I keep hearing Lee Greenwood singing Proud to Be an American which makes me think of Mrs. Hewitt. And thinking of Mrs. Hewitt makes me think of your mom (and you, and a whole lot of other people, obviously.)

    So, I did what I generally do — I looked for a blog or a social media account written by someone who would also remember Mrs. Hewitt… and here you are.

    Give your mom my best, please.

    PS. Great blog!

    • ashleynevis
      July 7, 2016

      Hi Denise!

      The internet never ceases to remind me what a small world we live in. That song will always make me think of Mrs. Hewitt too, and of the very fond memories I have of living in Panama.

      I passed your comment along to my mom and she sends her best. Thank you SO much for reaching out – I love connecting with people from the past. Hope you’re having a great week.

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