A Line of Women

 I'm still plugging away at my family tree. And I've been thinking about Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) a lot. (I know, you're rolling your eyes and thinking, "Of course you are, Holly." LOL)

Ancestry.com says, "Mitochondrial DNA makes up only 0.1% of the overall human genome and is passed down exclusively from mother to child." 

For me, it went...

Holly 
Pat
Marion
Sarah
Mary
Sarah
Elizabeth
Eliza 
Jane

Jane is my 6th great-grandmother. She's where that branch's trail muddles a bit. She was born in the late 1700's.  Despite the fact I can't go further back (yet), from Jane that mtDNA traces back to Mitochondrial Eve. She lived more than 100,000+ years ago. So even though I feel I've taken my family tree back quite a ways, that chain of women is so much more expansive. 100,000 years would be well over 4,000 generations. I can trace nine in my mtDNA line...but there are so many more. Woman, after woman, after woman...  As a woman with three daughters, I love that I gave them all that long lineage.

My grandmother was adopted. I found her original birth certificate and was able to  use that to trace her bio mom. Sarah was a nurse. She never married and lived with one of her sisters for her adult life, until that sister passed.  I'm a little haunted knowing that she was still alive while my grandmother was an adult...while I was in my teens. Did she think about the baby she'd called Marjorie Ruth every day? She was a morning's drive away, but we never met. She never knew my grandmother, my mom or me. She never got to see her legacy.

Each step I take on my tree leads to another piece of the puzzle of me. But the mtDNA line is one that reminds reminds me of the power of women. Women carry that tiny .1% of 4,000+ women in us. We give give life to the next generation and bless our daughters with that same line of mtDNA. There's such a power in that.  Knowing the strength of all those women who came before us, and the generations of women who will come after we have to remember our power as we work for our daughters' future.

One of the things that stands out to me as I work on my family tree is how some of the women get lost to history. Women like Jane. She took her husband's last name and her family name and line are lost to history...so far.  I've hit those hurdles many times in my tree. I'll keep looking, but I find some solace in knowing that the women in those lost lines maintain their past in their mtDNA. Is there any wonder I've been thinking about it so much lately? 

I'll continue looking for Jane's story...and telling my stories. Stories of women who have power and strength. Women who know their worth.  And I'll work to build a future for my daughters...and son. LOL

HollySpeaking of trying something new...

Check out some of my books!

Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
 Around the Square
Book 1-6 are available now! Book 7 & 8 are available for preorder and the final book will be out this fall!

Slip and Fall: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #2 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #1 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook
A View to a Kiln on Jeopardy!!

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