Beginnings

It started with my love of genealogy, and life-long questing after those who came before me.  But truly, it began with my maternal grandmother Dorothy Sorensen.  Or earlier, with her mother Etta Shurtleff. Or earlier still, on back through the ages. But the whole story, filled with secrets, lies, sadness and drama, culminated for all of us in our family as an apex experience this last weekend.

My mom and her two half siblings met for the first time on Saturday August 21, 2021.  They are all in their 80’s. The weekend was a highly emotional and satisfying merger, and the meeting was so comfortable that we all know that these people will continue to be a part of our lives.

Scientific Proof Through DNA

As a child, I learned at a young age that my Great Aunt Edith Hammond had written a book on the family line after a life time of research on the subject. I was riveted.  I felt a part of history – the ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, and those brave souls who made their way to this unknown country for various reasons in the 1600’s felt so alive.  I felt particularly enamored of the lands that they came from – England, Scotland and Wales mostly.  As I grew, I began my own research and found that Great Aunt Edith had been largely spot-on, and sometimes her assumptions have been proved incorrect by DNA.

DNA is where the current story unfolded.  Years ago, when DNA testing became available, I had to get to the truth behind the stories and beliefs, so my father agreed to be tested via Ancestry.com.  A few years after that, my mom was tested as well.  The results showed so many close matches, and I sent notes to all of the closest.  I received a letter back from David Horton, who told me that he had been adopted, and he thought his birth mother was Dorothy Sorensen.  I had an uncle. The torrent of emails that ensued were so illuminating and emotional.  He had done his DNA to see if he could discover if there were any genetic health issues that he ought to be aware of.  He found not only the truth about his birth mom, but siblings and nieces and nephews as well.

A few years later, both of us heard from another of the matches.  Her mom Adeline Greenwood Ores, who goes by Honey, had done the testing to see what her genetic heritage was, as she had been adopted when she was a newborn and knew nothing of her birth parents.  I had another aunt.  DNA showed her birth mother to be Dorothy Sorensen.  She and David are full siblings.  Through DNA we have discovered that their father was named Bruno Lutz.  Incomprehensibly, there is also another sibling named Harris Jacobs, who has passed away, who would also be a full sibling to David and Honey.  My mother and Aunt Diane come from my grandmother Dorothy’s prior marriage.

Perspectives

Over the past year and a half during quarantine, my sisters and I have gotten to know several of the cousins.  We have found many fascinating connections and similarities – many of us like to write, two went to the same college but missed each other by a year or two even though they are the same age, and many of us were born in the same years (and we all mourn the history of childhood gatherings that did not happen). The physical similarities between many of us are strong, and they are undeniable in the siblings.  We had two zoom meetings in the fall of 2020, soon after the discoveries were made, and again near Christmas.  I’m so glad that my father got to sit next to my mom during those and see what was transpiring, and that they got to see him.

We initially physically met at an Italian restaurant in the Chicagoland area, as Chicago is where Dorothy and Bruno lived and where many of us grew up, at least part of the time.  The video of the three siblings meeting face to face is a precious treasure.  We plan another gathering, this time a true reunion, in Nashville in April, and this time hope that my Aunt Diane is able to attend and can come to know these wonderful new relatives.

Going On From Here

We are planning on working on a book collaboratively.  There are many stories to be told, and many falsehoods to be made right.  The story of my grandmother Dorothy, and the huge unanswerable questions are to be a primary focus.  There is more research to be done.  As my Uncle David said in the toast he made at our last meal together, he feels so blessed to have these siblings and to sit at a table full of people who share his blood.  After a lifetime of being an adopted only child, he is now surrounded by a circle of loving family.

But most centrally, the blessing of having these wonderful new relatives in our lives now is beyond any goal I had when I first read my Aunt Edith’s genealogy.