Bill Conrad's Blog - Posts Tagged "dna"
My DNA
My parents grew up in Pennsylvania, met in college, and married. My father learned about a position at Mesa Community College in San Diego and got a job as a ceramic professor. My mother used her degree to get a job as an art teacher at a private school and later as a grade school teacher.
My father is of German descent, and his ethnic culture played a minor part in my childhood. We occasionally ate German food, and I knew my father’s German values. I was influenced more by my grandfather, who worked on the railroads. He also was a minor politician and a small business owner.
My mother is of Irish descent, and her family story is wilder. At a young age, my great-great-grandfather lived in Ireland and became aware of the potato famine. So, he stole his neighbor’s horse, sold it, and used that money to buy a ticket to America.
My great-grandfather was a coal miner who left the house before dawn and returned late in the evening, meaning he never saw the sun on weekdays. Later, my grandmother revealed he was a carpenter and saw the sun all day long.
My grandfather was a bad-ass OSS officer who went on behind-the-line missions, did scientific experiments, and developed classified things. After the war, he worked at Calgon and Merk as a chemist. Around age 35, he was struck with MS and was bedridden until he passed away in 1995.
Growing up, we rarely ate Irish food or had discussions about Ireland. However, the spirit of hard work was always present, which is very Irish.
As you can see, I have a rich family background, but what about my precise heritage? Three years ago, if asked, I would proudly tell you that I am half German, a quarter Irish, and a quarter European mutt, which means that last quarter has many European nationalities, including Welsh.
After my mother retired, she began researching her family tree. This effort included paying a Pennsylvania historian to locate birth and marriage certificates. She recorded the data in an extensive family tree diagram. I learned much about my distant family members and how I came to be.
As part of this project, my mother had a DNA test to confirm the percentages she already knew. Big reveal! She is 39.9% Scandinavian, 9.3% Irish/Scottish/Welsh, and 50.8% Eastern European. Then she got my father to take the test; he is 95% English.
My parents were shocked by the result, and my mother reached out to several people, including the company, to see if there was a mistake. They all said the results were correct. The news depressed and confused her, leading to a lack of interest in researching her family background.
What did all this mean to me? One would think that after being Irish and German all my life, I would have a significant reaction. This was not the case. I only found the news amusing. After all, it did not change who I am, what I think, or what I do. Plus, I prefer to live in the present. Life is too short to focus on what dead people in my past were up to.
The results do make sense. Way back when there were wars, the combatants settled near the battlefields because travel was difficult. Then, they formed communities with people of the same nationality. We see this today in large cities with Italian neighborhoods, for example.
Some people, like my mother, have great pride in their cultural background. And then there are people like me who do not care about life before their grandparents were born. But what about a character? My rule with characters is to tread lightly with their race because too many people quickly get upset about that subject, and I do my best to avoid controversy.
How do I describe a character’s race? I provide details about their physical appearance and do not dive into their heritage. However, I sometimes give clues with their last name. Readers can fill in the blanks with names like O’Conner, Chan, Sanchez, Schmidt, or Takahashi.
And my German last name? Conrad. It turns out to be very English.
You’re the best -Bill
August 21, 2024
My father is of German descent, and his ethnic culture played a minor part in my childhood. We occasionally ate German food, and I knew my father’s German values. I was influenced more by my grandfather, who worked on the railroads. He also was a minor politician and a small business owner.
My mother is of Irish descent, and her family story is wilder. At a young age, my great-great-grandfather lived in Ireland and became aware of the potato famine. So, he stole his neighbor’s horse, sold it, and used that money to buy a ticket to America.
My great-grandfather was a coal miner who left the house before dawn and returned late in the evening, meaning he never saw the sun on weekdays. Later, my grandmother revealed he was a carpenter and saw the sun all day long.
My grandfather was a bad-ass OSS officer who went on behind-the-line missions, did scientific experiments, and developed classified things. After the war, he worked at Calgon and Merk as a chemist. Around age 35, he was struck with MS and was bedridden until he passed away in 1995.
Growing up, we rarely ate Irish food or had discussions about Ireland. However, the spirit of hard work was always present, which is very Irish.
As you can see, I have a rich family background, but what about my precise heritage? Three years ago, if asked, I would proudly tell you that I am half German, a quarter Irish, and a quarter European mutt, which means that last quarter has many European nationalities, including Welsh.
After my mother retired, she began researching her family tree. This effort included paying a Pennsylvania historian to locate birth and marriage certificates. She recorded the data in an extensive family tree diagram. I learned much about my distant family members and how I came to be.
As part of this project, my mother had a DNA test to confirm the percentages she already knew. Big reveal! She is 39.9% Scandinavian, 9.3% Irish/Scottish/Welsh, and 50.8% Eastern European. Then she got my father to take the test; he is 95% English.
My parents were shocked by the result, and my mother reached out to several people, including the company, to see if there was a mistake. They all said the results were correct. The news depressed and confused her, leading to a lack of interest in researching her family background.
What did all this mean to me? One would think that after being Irish and German all my life, I would have a significant reaction. This was not the case. I only found the news amusing. After all, it did not change who I am, what I think, or what I do. Plus, I prefer to live in the present. Life is too short to focus on what dead people in my past were up to.
The results do make sense. Way back when there were wars, the combatants settled near the battlefields because travel was difficult. Then, they formed communities with people of the same nationality. We see this today in large cities with Italian neighborhoods, for example.
Some people, like my mother, have great pride in their cultural background. And then there are people like me who do not care about life before their grandparents were born. But what about a character? My rule with characters is to tread lightly with their race because too many people quickly get upset about that subject, and I do my best to avoid controversy.
How do I describe a character’s race? I provide details about their physical appearance and do not dive into their heritage. However, I sometimes give clues with their last name. Readers can fill in the blanks with names like O’Conner, Chan, Sanchez, Schmidt, or Takahashi.
And my German last name? Conrad. It turns out to be very English.
You’re the best -Bill
August 21, 2024
