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Found out a couple of days ago that I had a distant family member pass away that I had never met before. I read his obituary and he seemed like a really nice person that I wish I would have gotten to know. I tried to find some of his family members online, but no luck. Lately I realize that most families are growing distant and nobody seems to care about each other at all. Sorry, Im just rambling.

Do the DNA thing, you will be like Wifey, find a brother and niece you didn’t know you had

Last family reunion I had 60 cousins there. I would think it would be difficult to stay close to very many.

If you hit the lotto,you'll have more relatives than you can stand.

it also crossed my mind that if i was able to get a hold of anyone that they would think im trying to make personal gain and tell me to bleep off

When I was young I could not care less about my family history, but time changed me. I remember my Grandpa said that I reminded him of his Grandpa who was a blacksmith and wagon maker. I did the family history thing and traced my dads side back to the 1700s when 3 brothers came from England. I read my ancestors will online . Unbelievable! Some of the family went to Texas and one ran for Vice President of the US. It’s ok to reach out. Good luck!

once you get past second or third cousins, it's pointless

Before she passed, we had mom do a DNA test. We waited too late to do one on dad, but a cousin had one of dad's sisters do one. My wife loves researching stuff like that and it's amazing what you can find.

My mother and father grew up in opposite corners of TN and settled in GA where I was born and live. Dad was the oldest and all of my cousins on his side were born after I was grown so I really never knew them. Mom was the 2nd' youngest and most of my cousins on her side were grown and married by the time I was born. That and living 6-8 hours away meant I don't really know most of my cousins. Mom had nieces and nephews only a few years younger than her. I met a couple for the 1st time at her funeral.

Never knew much family beyond my first cousins. Funny, there was a girl I was friends with in my class at Navy “A” school, found out while home on leave afterwards that she was my mother’s cousin’s daughter.

I have 3 cousins on my dad's side, but I lost count on my mom's side

We've reached out to one side of our family[dads grandmother] and they basically said F-off.

They're up in the Erie PA area.

Dad said that even with his grandmother being an integral part of his growing up he cannot remember ever have meeting a single other person from her side of the family.

She was very successful after her husband died-started a business during the depression as well as doing books for multiple Co's.

Maybe one day someone on their side will have interest.

I'm indifferent about my immediate family and uninterested in the rest. My wife and kids are my tribe, beyond that, I care more about my dog.

Dad told my wife."We weren't sentimental people," when asked about his ancestry. Life was hard. They looked to the here after above all. Genealogy is interesting though. But kinship is different.

Here's a good place to explore past relatives.

It can be somewhat surprising what you find there.

https://www.findagrave.com/

Bullseye

My wife is very heavily into genealogy, and have traced her ancestry back to some very interesting/well known people in history.

In fact, it seems that one of my family members worked for her family member during King James’ reign…..after all these years nothing has changed! 😁 memtb

My maternal grandma was 1 of 13 - mom has 70 some cousins that side alone. Another 15 or so on her fathers side.

No point even trying to keep up with that.

I thought this was another Virginia thread, Locking up Family Members.

My bad.

Be very careful when submitting your DNA.

KYHillChick has been hot and heavy on the genealogy thing for 20 years or more. She's now taking in clients. Her specialty is African-American folks with slavery complications. However, her first love is digging up our families. She's got my lineage back to the 1600s.

About a decade ago, she decided we should both get swabbed. She hoped it would fill in some blanks.

About 2 weeks after I sent in my swab, I started realizing my mistake. I've told this story before: Dad was the real-life Sparky on M.A.S.H. He ran the depot in Seoul that serviced the field hospitals in Korea. One of his stories was about delivering nurses out to these units. He and a buddy would requisition an ambulance and pick up the women at Kimpo and ferry them out. They stocked the ambulance with an ample supply of Frozen OJ/Pure Medicinal Alcohol mix. Dad said he did his best patriotic duty delivering the nurses to the units properly drunk and pregnant. The women were happy for it. They were scared witless and the only way they could get out was through pregnancy.

All of a sudden, I realized I was opening myself up to all kinds of trouble; I had potentially all manner of half-brothers and sisters out there with birthdays from 1946-48. I waited. Luckily, Dad was not as patriotic as he thought. So far, no one has come forward.

HOWEVER . . .

Every so often, I'll get a hit on my DNA and get contacted by someone with a close match. None have been that close, but a previously unknown love child of one of my uncles showed up. I also had a hit that looked to be a distant cousin. One of Dad's aunts had a son that ended up working in the CIA. He made his bones doing security checks for the FBI back during the war in connection with Oak Ridge. A love child of his contacted us from rural Tenessee. I also got a hit from somebody in Argentina. Lessee: German lineage, a bit older than me in Argentina? No, I ain't answering that one. Im Schweineauge, mein Führer!

MIL is one of 11. Not sure my wife could tell you how man cousins she has on that side.