23andMe: Hooking in My Family

Okay, I might as well face it.  My blog posts for the next while are all going to be 23andMe and how things are going with my involvement with the Roots Into the Future initiative.  Hope you don’t mind!
As I shared last time, my results are now in and I’ve had a wonderful time working through them.  Then, about a week ago, I learned that the free kits were available again and I’ve been on a mission to see how many of my family members are also willing to do it.  One thing that I have seen clear in my experiences so far with me, my sister, and my husband is that the more family members you have in the system, the more valuable the results can be as you work to compare with others in the database.
So, I ordered more for myself and now have 3 to take with me our next trip to Alabama for some of Kalonji’s family members.  These are earmarked for his grandmother and two of his male cousins.  One was an extra one from the last round and I ordered two this round.

As for others in the family, I have been ordering them and having kits mailed to their homes directly.  Trying to make it easy on them ya know? Here is where we stand now — in addition to us three….

• My mother has sent her sample in and those results should be in soon as it’s been more than a month now
• My father has agreed to do it
• My brother will hopefully do it; his wife has her sample ready to mail on Monday
• My step-uncle is going to do it – hopefully his sister, my step-mother, will also; I’ve been working on their family tree for years.
• My stepfather is going to do it; I’ve been working on his tree too for years
• A first cousin of my mother’s is going to do it
• a 3rd cousin of mine has his sample ready to mail on Monday
• a 4th cousin of mine has ordered her kit and will send it in