MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS

 We always knew that Red was adopted, but we had no idea about the surprises that were in store for us.

age 14 with adopted mom

When she passed away 13 years ago, we came across photo albums from her adopted family. Quite interesting folks: they made their way across the country to settle towns in Colorado when life was hard. Another interesting fact was that one side of her adopted family had crossed the country with Joseph Smith, the Mormon, and were at the slaughter at Nauvoo. And yes, there were polygamists among them.

age 16

Family adoptions were quite common back then, so I assumed that this was a family adoption. Besides, Red always loved the outdoor life, fishing, camping, etc.

Imagine my surprise, after genetic testing of the family to discover that, although there may be some of that adopted family in the DNA, she was, in fact born of an Ashkenazi father and a mother who had roots in a very small town in KY though a family named McGowan.

It appears with the sketchy connections that we have made so far that the Ashkenazi family was probably of the Prussian/ Kiev/ Ukraine area, and in all likelihood fled during the Pogroms.

Knowing that my children's ancestors suffered that kind of horrific trauma in fairly recent history puts a new and personal spin on those awful events.  

Well, she had a productive life, was unbelievably beautiful, and made my children possible.

AND, she and Bill reaaallly enjoyed the 70's!