My father never knew his relatives on his dad’s side of the family because my grandfather for some unknown reason would never say who his parents were.  Several times my dad met someone with the same last name and he would ask trying to find that missing connection to his family history.   My dad died never knowing the history behind his name. 

Before covid my husband Larry Marrs bought me an Ancestry DNA kit to see if I could find answers.  It was slow trying to figure out all those hints on Ancestry.  During covid I spent hours researching, asking questions of strangers with my maiden name, trying to figure out our family tree. 

A wonderful group on FB answered one of my questions and that led me down another path.  I thought I had found my great-grandfather when a newfound cousin told me that was a great uncle and gave me the name of my great-grandfather that I had been looking for. 

Then the search began for my great-grandmother, which was much harder, but all those days sheltered at home that became my goal.  Yes, I found her, and it made me cry.  All I really wanted to do was tell my dad who they were, and I wanted to scream at my grandfather, who kept secrets. 

I found a cousin along the way who shared so much family history, other cousins popped up in a private group and it was fun to see how we were related.  One cousin shared a photo of my great grandmother and again I cried.  My father grew up surrounded by cousins that he never knew.  My circle of family has grown with new cousins that I am thankful for.