I was shopping with my mom on a Friday in Buffalo. If I ever see a penny on the ground, I pick it up saying to myself, “And all day I’ll have good luck.” I found a flattened, grubby coin in the Wise Penny Thrift Store parking lot.
You never know what’s in store for the rest of your day. By the time I went to bed I had five new relatives… starting with a 32-year-old nephew, his wife, and three children. All thanks to one very lucky penny and Ancestry.com.
A couple of years ago my daughter Zoe, my husband Mike and I registered our DNA with Ancestry.com. It’s been kind of fun to see our biological makeup but also learn about long, lost relatives. In my case, a nephew, unknown to my family, contacted me on Friday afternoon.
He had recently registered his DNA and found that I was a close relative. His mother had not informed him of my brother’s name, but by the evening he knew not only his biological father’s name, but also that he had three brothers, a sister and many nieces and nephews to add to his family tree.
For my mom, dad and me it was like getting a piece of Gary returned to us nearly seven years after his death. The very next day he and his wife came to visit. The minute he walked through the door it was deja vu. Cody looked so much like Gary in his younger years, he even wears a small beard the way my brother did in his 30s.
I have always been curious about nature versus nurture. What talents are we born with and what do we acquire over our lifespan? In Cody’s case, he became a carpenter just like my brother and my dad. He likes to work with his hands and build things. The family he was raised with does not have a talent in working with tools.
Over the weekend he put his talents to work fixing the ceiling in our garage. A good way to impress his Aunt Sandy. I am so excited about the direction this new journey is taking my family with the addition of these five. A new nephew, a beautiful niece-in-law, a great nephew and two great nieces. And to think it all started with a penny and Ancestry.com.
“Found pennies come from heaven, that’s what I’ve been told, by Angels watching over us from their clouds of gold. When an Angel thinks of you, they toss a penny down, sometimes just to cheer you up to make a smile from your frown.”
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes. You can email her your thoughts and messages at sandyholthaus1010@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you.
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