my tree

how can i find out where my family is from without paying a lot of money to have those genetic tests done that supposedly tell you stuff about your ancestry?

i know nothing about my family beyond the few that are living. my mom's dad died when i was very young and i don't know much about him except that he was kinda short, was a veteran, was an alcoholic, and gave most of his physical features to my mommy. my mom's mom is still very much alive and i'm very close to her. but all we know about her family is that they are from the south. my grandma (maternal) is NC born and bred, with a sweet southern drawl and curves that scream southern hospitality. beautiful cocoa brown skin, dark brown coarse hair, a round button nose and smiling brown eyes. she is the funniest lady i know and is so sweet and giving until you cross her line. then she'll beat you up Jesus style - never using her hands, but her words will cut like a knife.

my dad never met his father, so we don't even know what he looks like. my last name is my grandmother's maiden name. and it's an unusual and uncommon name - i wish i knew its origins. my dad's dad knocked my grandma up when she was 17. and my grandma, at 17, was already a mother to twin girls at age 15. there's rumors that my dad's dad was considerably older than my grandma, and was possibly a minister. and i believe he died when my father was very young, though the two never met.

my dad's mom is half-rican american (lol, half white/black). much of her family is from the south. and most of them are dead. i have no idea who any of them are (except my grandma)

my immediate family members and i share so many features, yet we all look so different from each other. you'd know we're related, but we are so colorful. my mother is short and curvaceous, pretty fair-complected with freckles, thin lips, a pointy nose and jet black thick curly hair. my father has beautiful mahogany-esque skin, full lips, a somewhat narrow nose and dark curly hair, which he keeps long and in a pony tail. i swear he looks like a dominican pimp. :-D

my sister is one of those people you look at and think, "where are you from??" Honey complexion, head full of curls, very full lips, large Sade-esque forehead, very european nose, tall and hardly a curve on her thin body.

me? i can't count how many times i've been mistaken for Ethiopian or Caribbean. Ethiopians walk up to me on the street and speak Amharic like i know what they're saying. i'm short and not all that curvy. i have some hips, but that's pretty much all i'm giving ya - i definitely didn't inherit much in the boobage or booty. my skin's color is somewhere between my sister's and my father's - mahogany meets the honey tree. full lips, somewhat pointed nose, and a head full very dark, very thick curly hair. my mommy didn't give me any of her D cups or her bootyliciousness, but she gave me her mane.

a guy i met on the train one day swore i have East African ancestry. or latin guys sometimes think i'm dominican or nicaraguan. don't think i haven't played that card with the spanish-speaking though, LOL. i may not speak Amharic but i'll habla some español to anyone, LOL.

but I wish i knew the truth!! i'd be thrilled to know where my bloodlines begin. i'd be thrilled to know anything about the family long deceased and unknown.

it's like God just opened His bucket of paint and parts and had a field day with my family. I wish He'd let me know what ingredients He used.

i always feel somewhat envious of people whose families celebrate so much rich culture and history. my family is such a mixture of unfinished stories and dead ends, questionable features, rumors of this and that kind of person. but none of us knows anything about anyone. and i know that, due to the slave trade, there is a chance that much of my family's story may never be known.

in the words of Shirley Bassey, Where do i begin?

tell me about yourselves, your ancestries, your histories. what do your physical features tell you about your roots? if you know where your bloodlines begin, tell me!! this stuff fascinates me. and if you have any recommendations as to where i can begin to dig into my roots, tell me those too.