Those who have been around here know that my mother was born out of wedlock and fathered by a man whom I only have the barest of information about. While it might have been nice to know more about him over the years, the only real incentive to fining out more about him was the surprise DNA results my mother got back, putting her at 33% Finn, something none of us suspected.

Running her DNA through an algorithm, there was an additional surprise: That some of that Finnish background may actually be Sámi, the reindeer herders of the area. So I set out to see if I could find out more about my grandfather, who’s ghost seemed to be hellbent on avoiding discovery. I eventually gave up the hunt as a lost cause when all roads ended up in dead ends about the man.

Until Andrea showed up in one of my DNA services.