OMG. The most beautiful blessed story I've ever heard. I got goose bumps, tears, heart palpitations, and a huge smile to start my day. Please tell me you've turned this story into 20/20 or Oprah or Good morning America or someone. Others in that situation need to know its not hopeless. What a wonderful gift you have given and received.
Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 24, 2016, at 7:55 PM, Laura Flanagan <[email protected]> wrote: > > I wanted to take a moment and share with all of you, my Portuguese genealogy > family, a heartwarming beautiful story that I was blessed to be involved in > over the past few days. As many of you know, I am adopted, and I have been > searching for my biological father for many years now. 5 years ago, my > husband bought me the Ancestry dna test. I then tested with FTDna and with > 23andme, hoping to find dna cousins who would share their lineage with me. I > learned to read Portuguese, and began researching on the Azorean gov't > website to build a large tree with all the genealogy of my Portuguese > cousins, looking for common ancestors between them. I have created a Master > DNA tree which now contains over 10,000 people, and I have indeed found > common ancestors. I am waiting the results of a dna test for a woman I > believe is my aunt or 2nd cousin. Expected date of discovery: March 21st! > Along this journey, I have been richly blessed me with so many new friends > and Portuguese cousins. I have learned much about my ancestors, the Island > of Sao Miguel, from which they came, and the struggles my ancestors endured, > making my life possible. > > About 3 years ago, I was working off a list of all of the men who bore my > biological father's name, Robert Moniz, and lived in the Fall River area at > the time of my birth. One man in particular had a son, Cory, that I located > on Facebook. I messaged him there, with my story, and he agreed to take the > Ancestry DNA test for me. As it turns out, we are only 5th to 8th cousins. > Not close enough to provide any clues, but I added his family lines to my DNA > Cousin Tree anyhow, thinking sometime in the future, it may be helpful. I > also added his mother's lines, even though she was French Canadian. That was > about 2 years ago. My search continues and I have not really looked at this > family in quite some time. > > Saturday morning I received a benign message from a 70 year old woman on > Ancestry. Her husband had purchased the test kit for her as a Christmas > gift. She had received her results and was showing a 3rd to 4th cousin match > to Cory and was reaching out to me because I am the administrator of his dna > profile. She was given up for adoption in 1945 in NY, and has been searching > for her biological family for 50 years. Her husband had bought her the > Ancestry DNA test kit for Christmas. She wondered if I had some small piece > of information that could help her learn something about her family. Due to > her age, she suspected her parents would have passed away by now. The only > thing she knew about her birth parents is that she had been told her mom was > 17 when she was born, and she believed her father may have been a married > man. I responded and explained that the test she was matching did not belong > to me, but if she would share her dna results with me, I would take a look, > as I did have quite a bit of information on Cory's family. > > Then the whirlwind began. It was readily apparent to me that this adoptee > was related to Cory through his mother. I could see this due to the common > matches they shared. I started to identify common ancestors between her dna > matches. And I just couldn't stop. I traced the lines down and then found > yet another common ancestor between unrelated 3rd cousins, and again started > to trace that line down and bang.... I found a marriage between the two > lines.... 5 dna cousins connecting to the wife and 6 unrelated dna cousins > connecting to the husband. I had identified this adoptees grandparents! I > nearly fell off my chair. This couple had 14 children...... which one was > her parent? Upon closer examination it was clear it could only be one of two > girls. I went onto Facebook and found the children of these two woman and > sent them a message with this adoption story. Yesterday, one of the children > called me letting me know that the woman we are looking for is indeed her > aunt, a daughter of the grandparents I had identified. She is 90 years, > alive and well, and had been searching for the past 50 years for her > daughter. She had even hired 2 private investigators, all without success. > > We quickly identified her birth father, and learned it is suspected he > descends from Amerigo Vespucci.... he is a Vespucci from Brooklyn! How > amazing is that?!?!? > > Late yesterday Betty Belle, 90, and Jeannie, 70, a mother and daughter > separated in 1945 by adoption, spoke on the telephone for the first time in > their lives! They cried, they laughed and they planned to talk again today. > Jeannie was able to tell the woman who gave her life how much she loved her, > and how long she has wanted to know her. I cried my eyes out and could not > believe that my search for my Portuguese father had inadvertently led to > this. I have no words - in fact I do not think there is an English word that > could do justice to this. Maybe there is a Portuguese word? > > I felt compelled to share this story with you all, who have been so gracious > to me, and helpful, as I continue with my journey. I will continue to search > for my father, but even if I never do find him, I will be a happy woman. God > is good and He has a plan for everything; the good, the bad and the ugly. It > all works the way it is meant to. > > Please know that dna works... it really does! This reunion was made > possible with only 11 3rd-4th cousins.... and perhaps a few stars lining up > just right! Just incredible! > -- > For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail > (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right > that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Azores Genealogy" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores.
