Confusion: Family Tree Maker, Family Tree DNA and Ancestry.com

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Roberta Estes

I wish very much that the names of Family Tree DNA and Family Tree Maker weren’t so similar, because it has created a lot of confusion over the years and that confusion has intensified this past week with Ancestry.com’s announcement that they are discontinuing support of their genealogy software package, Family Tree Maker.

Let’s clear up that confusion right now.

Family Tree Maker is a genealogy software package to track your genealogy information and it is owned by Ancestry.com.
Ancestry.com also offers a DNA testing product called AncestryDNA that tests your autosomal DNA and provides you with a list of DNA matches.
Ancestry.com’s DNA product offering, AncestryDNA, and their genealogy software program, Family Tree Maker, are in no way connected to each other. They don’t share any functionality and their only commonality is that Ancestry owns them both.
Family Tree DNA is a DNA testing company that does NOT provide genealogy software and DOES provide an extensive array of DNA testing products and tools, such as autosomal DNA through their Family Finder product, similar to the AncestryDNA product. Family Tree DNA also provides additional DNA testing such as Y and Mitochondrial DNA, which Ancestry.com does not offer. Family Tree DNA’s only products are DNA tests.
There is no connection whatsoever between Family Tree DNA and Family Tree Maker.
There is no connection whatsoever between Family Tree DNA and Ancestry.com.

Ancestry Retires Family Tree Maker Software

On December 5, 2015, Ancestry.com announced that it would no longer be selling their genealogy program, Family Tree Maker and will be retiring the product. You can read their announcement here.

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with Ancestry’s DNA testing product, AncestryDNA and nothing whatsoever to do with Family Tree DNA, an entirely different company.

If you are an AncestryDNA customer, you are entirely unaffected by this announcement.
If you are a Family Tree DNA customer, you are entirely unaffected by this announcement.
If you are a Family Tree Maker genealogy software user, you’ll be needing to find a new genealogy program in the next year or so. Ancestry will be supporting the current Family Tree Maker software through January 1, 2017 and it will likely continue to function after that, at least until you purchase a new computer or update your operating system software – but you’ll be on your own at that point. I would not recommend using the software beyond when Ancestry terminates support. So, you have time – a full year. There is no reason to panic.

Selecting New Genealogy Software

You can easily convert to a new genealogy package by exporting a GEDCOM file from Family Tree Maker into your new software package of choice.

There has been a lot of online discussion about the pros and cons of various software packages for both the PC and MAC platforms since Ancestry’s announcement.

Judy Russell covered the topic here and Shannon Christmas covered it here.

Here’s a wiki page of genealogy software programs, but I found it a bit overwhelming. Here’s another review site by feature.

On the ISOGG Facebook group, we’ve been discussing this very topic as well. To distill this conversation for you, I would suggest considering either Legacy or RootsMagic software if you are a PC user and either Rootsmagic or Reunion if you are a MAC user.

My understanding is that all of these programs support Y and mitochondrial DNA information in some fashion, although I’m sure exactly how varies by program. Personally, I just record the haplogroup as a “second middle name” so I can see the haplogroup lineage on pedigree charts. So while DNA support is important, there are multiple ways to achieve this and I don’t think it’s a make-it or break-it criteria when choosing your new software. My biggest concern is that all of my images and notes transfer, regardless of size/length.

The good news is that most of the genealogy software packages are taking advantage of Ancestry’s retirement of Family Tree Maker with sales to entice you and even step by step instructions and videos of how to convert and use their software.

So, take a deep breath. Family Tree DNA is totally unaffected by this. DNA results at either company are entirely unaffected by this. And if you are a Family Tree Maker user, you have plenty of time to evaluate alternatives and make your decision.

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Heads Up about the 23andMe Meltdown

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Roberta Estes

As I’ve written before, 23andMe is going through a rather dramatic revision of their product following their FDA approval. Their “upgrade” is rolling out in waves and began November 11^th. I had decided to wait until it was complete, and things had settled down before writing anything. Transitions are notorious for being difficult and people are notorious for not liking or dealing with change very well.

However, given the significant problems being encountered by the community, and the uniformly negative feedback by those with the new account format, I feel compelled to give you a heads up about this. If you’re interested in specifics, you can check out Kelly Wheaton’s December 2 posting on the ISOGG group on Facebook where this has been discussed at length.

Kelly Wheaton, a long-time genetic genealogist, community member and educator states:

“I am temporarily suspending my recommendation to use 23andme for genetic genealogy. This is based on several factors but the most important are the fact that it is functioning poorly and there has been a concerted effort by management to disregard the genealogist in the design and implementation of its new format. When it is functioning I will make a final determination. I have posted this on my website and will post in all places I frequent. Feel free to quote me if you’d like. This is a very sad day for me for its implications to the genetic genealogy community. It is not a step I take lightly.”

Kelly is certainly not alone and her commentary reflects the sentiments of many. Truthfully, right now, the whys and wherefores and debate doesn’t matter. All that matters is that it is what it is at this minute. So, where are we right now and what do you need to do to protect and preserve your information if you have tested at 23andMe?

Current Status

If you tested on the version 4 (V4) chip, since December 2013, your account may have already been transitioned. Good luck to you.

If you are on the V3 chip, testing prior to December 2013, your account probably has not been transitioned. You still have time to preserve your information, but do it quickly…as in now.

Here’s the warning.

Download or Print Everything

Go into your account and print or download anything you think you might want or need – ever.

It’s unclear how much of your existing health and medical information will be available under the new system. V3 users received information before the FDA’s shutdown of 23andMe’s medical information service in November of 2013 that has not been provided since, and is not provided under 23andMe’s new agreement with the FDA. It’s unclear how much of their previous information V3 users will be able to retain, and in what format.

You will be losing some genealogy related functionality. Feedback from V4 people already transitioned is extremely negative – and they never received the health information V3 people received – so they didn’t have that to lose.

Currently, on the new version, you cannot download your genealogy segment match information, although 23andMe has said this will be available later. This may be a function of everyone not being on the same platform yet. However, don’t take chances.

Here are four things you need to do.

Countries of Ancestry

I spoke in this article about downloading your Countries of Ancestry information if that is relevant to you. It will be disappearing.

Health Information for V3

Currently, when you sign into your account, it appears that you cannot access your health information without answering those %#$@** questionnaires. In other words, it seems that even though I have opted out of the research aspect of 23andMe (you can’t opt out entirely), I was being forced to answer information for their use before I could see my health information.

You can see here that when I click on “Surgical Complications” to see that information, I’m presented with this form that I must complete before I can view my results. Let me tell you, I am NOT a happy camper about this method of arm-twisting.

In essence 23andMe is telling me that in order to have access to my own information, I must opt back in. That’s not going to happen.

I sent an inquiry to 23andMe about this, wanting to be sure I really did fully understand what they were doing. Is this really as bad as it looks?

In essence, it is and it isn’t. It is in that you do have to answer those questions to see that information.

I was not happy, so I reached out to 23andMe to clarify.

Unfortunately, this focus on obtaining your medical information, one way or the other, seems to define the new 23andMe.

Based on their reply, to see the Surgical Complications information, one must complete the form, BUT there is also another avenue to access your health information which was not at all evident.

Here’s the 23andMe “final answer” after a couple of clarifying exchanges back and forth.

Is the information in the health overview section truly the same as would have been presented to me on the Surgery Complications report? I don’t know. I can’t find out without opting in to their research again and answering that form…and I will never be a participant or victim of genetic extortion.

That aside, let’s make lemonade out of lemons and see how to access the complete health information as they instructed. The Health Overview summary below is from an anonymous person.

There’s the print link, at the upper right. The printed report includes elevated risks. If you click on the link below each group, “See all 122 risk reports,” above, you can see all the individual risk factors you were evaluated for in all 4 groups. You must click on the link for each group located at the bottom of that group. Even though there is no print button on the detailed report, on a PC, CTRL+P will print the entire page.

Download Your Genealogy Matches

To download all of your genealogy match information, fly over “My Results” at the top of your toolbar.

Click on “Ancestry Tools,” then on “Family Inheritance: Advanced.”

Once there, you will see the comparison tool.

At the bottom of the blue boxes, you’ll see “Download all of Roberta Estes’s shared segments as aggregated as of <date> or re-request the aggregation.” Depending on when you last downloaded, you likely want to re-request the aggregation.

This provides you with all of your match information for those people who are sharing with you.

Other Changes

It’s unclear what else might be changing or how. We do know that the half versus fully identical segment comparison information is gone now. Suffice it to say, if there is anything, on any screen, that you want – find a way to preserve it. Screen shots work too. On a PC that’s PrtScr and then paste to a document so you can save it either as document or the screen shot as a jpg file.

In Summary

I don’t know how all of this is going to shake out in the end. It’s not looking positive for the genetic genealogy community. Regardless, I felt compelled to speak up now, even before we know all of the specifics, in order to warn you so that you can preserve as much of your useful information as possible. Better safe than sorry. Don’t delay.

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The Red Cup

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Roberta Estes

I’m sure we’ve all heard the brouhaha over the red cup.

Oh no, not those red cups, these, and in particular, the ones Starbucks introduced this holiday season without the snowflakes and other decorations.

Yes, seriously.

I typically try to avoid any controversial subjects in this blog, but I thought, just this once, I’d see what the ancestors have to say about the topic of the red cup, with or without the snowflakes and reindeer.

I often wonder what my ancestors would think of questions and problems in my life and times, so I “interviewed” a few of my ancestors and asked them what they thought of the red cup.

James Crumley, my Quaker ancestor who died in 1764 owning a still, several gallons of liquor and with a bunch of people owing him money:

“Red cups? Great – we can put hard cyder in them with some cinnamon and charge five pounds. You can put it on account.”

Edward Mercer, my Quaker ancestor who got thrown out of the Quaker church for excessive drinking in 1759. By the way, his daughter married the son of neighbor, James Crumley, above:

“Red, who cares. What’s in the cup?”

Ann Mercer, Edward’s wife:

“Oh for Heavens sake Edward, haven’t you gotten in enough trouble already???”

Johann Michael Mueller, my Pietist ancestor:

“Red is too bright. Are there black or brown cups?”

John David Miller, my Brethren ancestor who requested his gravestone not be highly polished:

“The cup is too shiny. Is there a duller version?”

Evaline Miller Ferverda, my Brethren great-grandmother:

“Sinful, it’s all sinful. Red, coffee, shiny – if it’s pretty and you like it – it’s sinful.”

William George Estes, my bootlegging grandfather:

“Put some whiskey in that coffee. Oh, was the cup red?

Sarah Faires Speak, my ancestor who had 76 grandchildren:

“I’m a widow living with my daughter and have nothing to give my grandchildren for Christmas. I think 76 red cups would be wonderful. I can’t write, either, so writing their names on each one would be perfect? No snowflakes, don’t worry – the kids can decorate them.”

Philip Jacob Kirsch, the proprietor of the Kirsch House in Aurora, Indiana:

“The customers would love red cups! Bring ‘em on. Beer is good in any color cup.”

King Henry III:

“Red is a royal color. Let’s put my shield on the cup?”

Fairwick Claxton, my ancestor who disowned his children who had abandoned him.”

“Only Samuel should get a red cup. The rest of you should have no cups at all.”

Agnes Muncy Clarkson, Fairwick’s wife:

“I begged Fairwick to give red cups with snowflakes to everyone, but alas, he would not hear of it. Perhaps you could have some red cups with no snowflakes?”

Moses Estes, “distiller of fine brandy and cyder”:

“Why put coffee in that cup? Brandy would be much better.”

George Estes, my Revolutionary War Veteran who served three different terms of service in the same war:

“It’s cold as hell out here and I’d give anything to have a hot cup of any beverage in any color cup.”

John Y. Estes, prisoner of war during the Civil War”

“Could I eat the cup?”

My mother, Barbara Jean Ferverda, who survived the depression…and my father.

“Five dollars for a cup of coffee and the cup is disposable????!!!!!!!”

My father, William Sterling Estes, who had multiple wives at the same time and was not Mormon:

“Can I please get several cups? Oh, names? Uhhh…just write “Merry Christmas” on all of them.”

Personally, I think they should just put a double helix on the cup – because everyone, without fail, has one of those – and it is what unites us all:)

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The 23andMe Transition – First Step November 11th

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Roberta Estes

If you tested through 23andMe, certainly by now you know they are undergoing a rather dramatic facelift and change of how their webpage, tools and matching works.

What’s Changing?

After November 11^th, many changes will occur and many matches will no longer be available to you, especially if they are anonymous or use a nickname. Here is a complete list of what will and will not be available.

The genetic genealogy community is struggling to understand exactly what this means to us, in terms of matches and functionality – both lost and gained. Suffice it to say that a lot of confusion remains, so be on the safe side and download both your individual match list and your COA (Countries of Ancestry) matches if you utilize those.

Countries of Ancestry Matches

I recently discovered that many people don’t know about COA, so here is some brief information so you can utilize this information before it’s too late.

The Countries of Ancestry feature was meant to allow you to see where your matches’ ancestors are from if all 4 of their grandparents were born in the same place. The idea being that if all 4 grandparents were born in the same place, then the family lines likely run deep there – and perhaps your ancestors were born there too. For more information, sign on to your 23andMe account, go to Countries of Ancestry, and click on the “see how this works” link.

To download your individual match ancestry and segment information, go to Ancestry Tools, Countries of Ancestry, and click on the blue button below your chromosome map.

To download the information for your matches, click on the down arrow in the box with your name, and you will see your matches information which is available for download.

The benefit of COA information was that Anonymous individuals’ information was available to you – and it is beneficial to know that you match someone on a particular chromosome whose 4 grandparents were all born in Ireland, for example.

Additional Information

When I signed on recently, this message, below was waiting for me and provides additional information. But remember, whatever you are going to do in preparation – do it now, before November 11^th. It’s somewhat uncertain exactly what will and will not be available after that date. It’s also uncertain what “partially available” means. Better safe than sorry – so download anything you want now. You may not able to do so later.

As part of the updates and transition to the new 23andMe, many features will be undergoing significant changes. While we are working to transition customers to the new site, some changes will have an immediate impact on the customer experience in the current 23andMe site, including introductions in DNA Relatives.

To provide some context for the changes to DNA Relatives introductions, it may be helpful to review what purpose introductions served in the current DNA Relatives; namely, introductions brokered communication between anonymous participants and allowed participants to remain anonymous during communication.

In the new 23andMe, anonymous participation in DNA Relatives will no longer be an option. To support this change, several things will happen in the existing DNA Relatives starting November 11, 2015:

* Customers currently using nicknames in DNA Relatives will be converted to anonymous In order to access and participate in the new DNA Relatives, customers will select how to display their profile name or initials; “nicknames” will no longer be an option. If your current settings in DNA Relatives are “Show me as [ Nickname ]” instead of “Show me as [ Profile Name ]” on November 11 this setting will revert to “Keep me anonymous.”

Your profile name may still be an alias or a name of your choosing; for more information about when a legal name is required, see https://www.23andme.com/you/community/thread/41020/5/#skip_to_ddaefb41b87904dd

* Anonymous participants can no longer send or receive introductions The introduction system is what allowed messages to be exchanged anonymously. Copying pending introductions as messages in the new DNA Relatives would expose the names of participants who had been anonymous.

* Pending introductions will be canceled Both incoming and outgoing introductions will be deleted from your inbox.

We realize that canceling pending introductions will have a significant impact for some customers. To date, a pending introduction would keep a match on your list indefinitely so pending introductions allowed members to view and maintain matches beyond the cap of 1 thousand. There are several additional DNA Relatives updates that should help mitigate the cancellation of introductions:

First, the cap on the number of matches that will be available in DNA Relatives is being raised. We expect to be able to provide each customer with their closest 2 thousand matches, which is double the current cap.

Second, we are introducing an Open Sharing option within DNA Relatives. If 2 customers both choose to participate in Open Sharing, they will be able to view one another’s ancestry and segment information without extending and accepting a sharing invitation.

Third, anonymous participation in DNA Relatives will no longer be an option. Currently anonymous customers who wish to continue participating in the feature will need to select new settings (although until they do they will remain as an anonymous match). Participation in DNA Relatives also includes messaging tools, and any participant can send a message to any other participant.

When customers transition to the new 23andMe, the following will apply:

* Any established sharing settings will be maintained. This will not affect any sharing connections; if you are sharing genomes with another member, that will remain in place.

* Accepted introductions will be saved. The content of messages for introductions that have been accepted will be copied over to the updated messaging system in the new DNA Relatives.

* Currently anonymous customers who wish to continue participating in the feature will need to select new settings. Until they do they will remain anonymous.

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Free Access to Native American Records – Limited Time

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Many people have an oral history of Native American heritage. Fold3.com is offering free access to their Native American Collection until November 15th, 2015.

Finding that your DNA carries a history of Native heritage often is just the beginning of a search. The next question, if of course, which tribe. That information generally comes from genealogy research.

Conversely, the lack of autosomal DNA evidence does not mean your ancestor was not Native – it may mean they were just too many generations back in time for their DNA to become evident in today’s ethnicity results – although they may still show in Y and mitochondrial DNA – depending on where they fall in your family tree.

Regardless of how your Native history or heritage is presented in your family – DNA or not – enjoy searching these free records.

Titles in this collection include:

Ratified Indian Treaties (1722-1869): Ratified treaties that occurred between the United States government and American Indian tribes. Also included are presidential proclamations, correspondence, and treaty negotiation expenses.
Indian Census Rolls (1885-1940): Census rolls submitted annually by agents or superintendents of Indian reservations as required by an 1884 Act of Congress. Only persons who maintained a formal affiliation with a tribe under Federal supervision are listed on these census rolls.
Dawes Packets: Applications between 1896 and 1914 from members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes to establish eligibility for an allotment of land in return for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing Federal law.
Dawes Enrollment Cards (1898-1914): Enrollment cards, also referred to as “census cards,” prepared by the staff of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, commonly known as the Dawes Commission. The cards record information provided by applications submitted by members of the same family group or household and include notations of the actions taken.
Eastern Cherokee Applications (1906-1909): Applications submitted for shares of the money that was appropriated for the Eastern Cherokee Indians by Congress on June 30, 1906.
Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee by Guion Miller (1908-1910): The Guion Miller Roll is perhaps the most important source for Cherokee genealogical research. There are an estimated 90,000 individual applicants from throughout North America included within this publication.
Cherokee Indian Agency, TN (1801-1835): The records of the agent of Indian Affairs in Tennessee, including correspondence, agency letter books, fiscal records, records of the Agent for the Department of War in Tennessee, records of the Agent for Cherokee Removal, and miscellaneous records.
Rinehart Photos – Native Americans (1898): Photographs of over 100 Native Americans taken by Frank A. Rinehart, a commercial photographer in Omaha, Nebraska. Rinehart was commissioned to photograph the 1898 Indian Congress, part of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition.

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23andMe to Get a Makeover After Agreement with FDA

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Today’s e-mail contained a message from 23andMe announcing that they have obtained partial FDA approval. Not approval to continue what they were doing, apparently, but approval to provide some carrier status (for 36 genetic disorders), wellness and trait reports to participants. Here’s the e-mail:

You can read their new privacy statement here and new terms of service here.

This new functionality, replacing the old and current functionality requires a web site redesign. Now, given that the genetic genealogy community has been begging for some functional changes for years now, this could be the silver lining to the cloud.

Sure enough, when I signed in, it says a new experience is coming. I hope they have taken the many suggestions provided by the genetic genealogy community to heart when doing the redesign.

Here’s a link to the FAQ.

Not everything currently available will be included in the new version. For a comprehensive list, check here.

If you tested before the FDA shutdown in December of 2013, which happened just about concurrently with the release of their V4 chip, although the two events were unrelated, you may not qualify for all of the new reports. It appears that you may need to upgrade to the new V4 chip platform. 23andMe states that US customers won’t have to pay anything extra for the new reports, but they don’t say that upgrading to the V4 chip would be free. They also don’t address international customers. I’ll guess we’ll find out.

Now for the bad news, at least for people who have been using 23andMe for family type autosomal projects. The price of testing increased, not just a little either – but doubled. It was $99 and it’s now $199, as of today. The good news – Family Tree DNA and Ancestry are still $99. A fine way for 23andMe to thank the genetic genealogy community that kept them afloat in the nearly two years since the FDA shut down their medical and health reporting.

I think, in terms of genealogists and genealogy testing, they just shot themselves in the foot.

A Bloomberg Business article here discusses more about the new offering, including the following statement:

“The revamped test also will feed data into 23andMe’s new drug-discovery unit, led by Genentech Inc. veteran Richard Scheller. Along with gathering genetic information, 23andMe also surveys its customers on their physical traits and symptoms. By developing this unique database, the company hopes to gain a better understanding of how genes drive disease, leading to new drug targets. Out of 1 million customers, more than 80 percent have consented to participate in research, 23andMe has said.”

Clearly, the real 23andMe interest is not and has never been in genetic genealogy, but in gathering the DNA of participants to sell and utilize to design and discover drugs that are assuredly, not going to be available for free or discounted prices to those genetic genealogists who agreed to provide their DNA and other information “for research purposes.” I have to wonder how many people realize that’s what they have done and that’s what they are doing every time they answer one of the front and center surveys on the 23andMe site.

For a long time, I think people who tested at 23andMe thought of “medical research” as the type of research involved with the Michael J. Fox Foundation which is nonprofit. In fact, 23andMe is affiliated with this organization and has published articles including Michael in 2012. Given that, I was uncomfortable when 23andMe patented a gene having to do with Parkinson’s Disease.

However, subsequent articles that announced that 23andMe had patented the technology for designer babies made it abundantly clear, at least to me, that the 23andMe medical interest was not altruistic as I had once believed.

You can opt out of their research, at least partially. Your genetic information is still used in an anonymized aggregated fashion. There is no complete opt-out, as best I could tell in either the old or new terms of service and privacy policy.

In any event, change is afoot and we’ll see the new version of the 23andMe website by the end of the year, according to Anne Wojcicki’s e-mail announcement. Let’s hope that there is an improved genealogy matching experience. Let’s also hope they make it unmistakably clear to customers, both old and new, that they are going to use their genetic information for high-stakes profit-making ventures and give us a way to opt out of the research aspect entirely without being penalized.

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2015 Voting for Rock Star Genealogist(s) Now Open

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Roberta Estes

Voting is open for your favorite genealogists and closes this Sunday, September 12^th, so vote early and often. No, no, you can only vote once – this isn’t Chicago. But please, do vote. It’s a lovely way to say thank you to those who give above and beyond in our community.

Last year, in 2014, I was thrilled to see genetic genealogists among the winners.

Genetic genealogy went from a topic you had to beg to get on the agenda at any conference a decade ago to a high interest topic today with many available speakers. That’s great because genetic genealogy more than any other genealogy activity must be collaborate. I mean, DNA testing with no one to compare to would be, for the most part, fruitless.

So take a look at the candidates and vote for someone. I guarantee – you’ll know some of them.

The great thing about this kind of voting is that no one is campaigning, there is no mud- slinging and no negative ads. There are only winners because we are very fortunate to have all of the candidates in our community!

Click here to vote.

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Department of Interior, Indian Affairs, Hiring a Genealogist

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Roberta Estes

The NGS website announced this week an opening at the Department of Interior, Indian Affairs, for a genealogist in the Washington DC vicinity. Let’s hope that whoever they hire also understands, and I mean really understands, DNA testing – as they assuredly will be bombarded with questions about how DNA testing pertains to Native people and their descendants.

DNA testing has the potential to be beneficial to applicants in the process of requesting federal recognition. DNA testing and those results are now a permanent part of the genealogy landscape. Let’s hope that the new BIA genealogist knows how to utilize them properly when evaluating genealogy.

This looks like a really good career opportunity for someone. Is that someone you?

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London DNA Sculpture Trail

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Roberta Estes

I’m typically not a “things” person, but I’m telling you, I want one of these for my garden. Oh yeah!!!!! In fact, I think making one would be great fun!!!

This summer (2015), you can take part in an extraordinary event across London, England, in support of Cancer Research UK.

This London art trail is made up of 21 beautifully designed giant double helix sculptures and runs until Sunday the 6th of September. These sculptures have been designed by some of the biggest names in art and design. Check out the sculpture map, watch the video of how one sculpture was made, and start planning your trail now, at least if you’re going to be in London. I surely wish they’d do a virtual tour for those of us who can’t visit in person.

At the end of the summer, these sculptures will be auctioned to raise funds to complete the Francis Crick Institute, the scientist of course who discovered DNA.

You can see the Individual sculptures here.

I personally love the Delft one. And the cat one with the buttons. And the orange tree from Spain. And the helix ladder. And the symbolic swallow with handprints. Ok, I like them all. Which one is your favorite?

Update:

Subscriber PB has sent two photos of the sculptures in London. Thanks PB. If anyone else sends photos, I’d love to add them too.

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Frank Sadowski (1921-1945), Almost My Father, 52 Ancestors #73

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Roberta Estes

His name was Frank Sadowski.

This Memorial Day, I couldn’t help but think of all of the people who made that ultimate sacrifice and how their deaths changed history – and I don’t necessarily mean history on the battlefield. I’m talking about personal history. Many changes are invisible in the big picture – but life-altering to the people on the receiving end.

You see, Frank was scheduled to be my father. Frank was engaged to my mother. But Frank never came home from WWII. All gave some, and some gave all. Frank gave all. The ultimate sacrifice.

When I was about 10 years old, I found a man’s ring in my mother’s jewelry box that I didn’t remember seeing before. Not her “current” jewelry box, but the special box for “old things.” I got the ring out, put it on and started playing with it. I thought it might have been my Dad’s, who had died a few years earlier. The ring, of course, was much too large. I waltzed out into the kitchen with the ring dangling from my finger, and the look on my mother’s face would have stopped a freight train. Someplace between shock and horror – and then pain as she cried. She came, retrieved the ring, put it away and told me I couldn’t play with that. I asked whose it was, and she simply said she couldn’t talk about it. I felt just awful. So did she.

It would be many years, but then one day, as I faced Vietnam married to a Marine, she told me the story of Frank.

I felt like I was an intruder into a sacred space made just for two, a time capsule all sealed up. That capsule was full of both joy and sorrow. It was the sorrow that sealed it for years.

We sat on the edge of the bed, and Mom told me about Frank, and about her and Frank. I stared at the pattern on the bedspread, burned into my mind yet today, unable to look at her. She wasn’t there anyway. She was someplace else – back in Chicago with Frank in the 1940s. Her sorrow, even after all those years, was current, real, palpable and painful. You could feel it in every word she spoke, and even in the pauses between words and the sometimes long stretches between sentences. Tears silently rolled down her cheeks. Tears roll down mine today as I remember…

Frank had hopes and dreams and plans. He was the all-American boy, participating in clubs in high school.

He wanted to be a doctor. He wanted to get married – to my mother. He wanted a family. But the war interfered. That war interfered with nearly everything.

Mom went to Chicago in 1943 or 1944 to dance with a professional tap and ballet company that performed primarily at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, a swanky upscale beachside hotel on Lake Michigan that featured acts like Bing Crosby. Her troupe was sometimes the main attraction, and sometimes the backup act for big name talent. You can see a video about Chicago nightlife in 1947 here. I think mother is the dark haired women in the front beginning about minute 6:14.

Mom was a beautiful, talented lady and had many beaus and suitors. She lived in a house with a widow lady, who she called Mommie Mackenzie, who acted as her surrogate mother/grandmother and chaperone. It was just not acceptable for a respectable young woman to be unchaperoned in Chicago. Mother was 20 in 1943.

I don’t know how Mom and Frank met. I didn’t have the heart to ask Mom any more questions that would be painful. I do know they fell in love in Chicago and planned to marry as soon as he came home.

Frank enlisted in February of 1943, perhaps before he met mother.

By Christmas of 1944, they were an item. He was stationed in San Francisco at that time, but would ship out to the Pacific theater in early 1945 and faced some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Those, he survived.

Mom said Frank was a doctor. I think he actually was a medic, but I really don’t know. It doesn’t matter now. What matters is that Frank enlisted to help people. He died doing just that in a medical unit. Mom said that Frank was killed trying to help another man “after the first truce but before the second one.”

Mom said that she knew the last time she saw Frank off at the train station that he would never come home. I asked her how she knew and she said she didn’t know, but that she cried too hard – and she knew. Mom always had a way of knowing things like that.

Mom repeated to herself over and over that things would be alright, that Frank would come home…trying to make it true by virtue of sheer willpower. But it wasn’t to be.

VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day was celebrated on May 8, 1945 but it would be another three months until VJ Day, Victory in Japan Day, was celebrated on August 15^th, 1945. Frank was stationed in Okinawa during that time. He never saw VE or VJ Day, because he was killed on April 19th, just days before the end of the war.

Mom tells how she was called and asked around noon on VJ Day, the 15^th, to participate in the impromptu Chicago celebrations held in the streets downtown. The country went insane with celebration described as an “outbreak of giddy.” Life was going to return to normal and Johnny would come marching home. Except Frank didn’t.

Mother said she wanted to be happy, and to celebrate, and she did go and sing with the group of performers – but she could not be happy. One of her songs was a patriotic solo and she said she very nearly could not make it through the performance. The celebration could not overcome her somberness and grief. While, she was glad that the war was over and no one else would be killed, there was no joy in the celebration for her.

The man who was to be my mother’s husband and my father, would never be those things. He was robbed of that opportunity, and so was Mom. Frank gave all.

Frank came home, but in a different way. Frank is pictured above with his father, also Frank, who would bury his son four years later and request a military headstone. Yes, it took the family four years to get Frank’s body back. Four very long years. On the back of that photo is written “Who’s that handsome fellow in the zoot suit?” and then a note below it with an arrow that says “Sis’s corny cracks are on all pix she sends.”

I don’t know who called mother with the news of Frank’s death. I’m guessing it would have been Frank’s parents. I know she corresponded with Frank’s sister for decades. Mom was treated as Frank’s future wife by his family, and then as his widow.

Mother never talked about Frank’s funeral. Nothing, ever. I think it was just too difficult for her – even 20 years and then decades later. I know she came entirely unglued every time she heard taps and would do almost anything to avoid that circumstance.

To me, 20 years seemed like an eternity ago, more than a decade before I was born, but looking back now at things in my life that happened 20 years ago, it doesn’t seem so long and many that are painful are still quite fresh. Sometimes it’s extremely difficult to verbalize experiences that were overwhelmingly painful. Sometimes talking about them opens that terrible gash again.

Mother was heartbroken. Devastated. It would be another decade before she met my father and nearly 20 years after that until she married again, in her 50s. And that decade in-between Frank’s death and my father, well, let’s just say it wasn’t wonderful. It’s difficult to live with unrelenting grief so profound. I don’t think anyone ever measured up to Frank, at least not until she met my step-father. My own father was simply another heartbreak for mother.

Frank’s death took his life, but it also took the life that mother and Frank had planned, and it took the lives of the children they never had. It robbed them of their future together…and altogether. It changed the course of my mother’s life in such a fundamental way that I can’t even imagine the different life she would have had with Frank, or who I would have been or would be today. Would I even be me? Half my DNA and half my ancestors would have been different – as would my entire set of life experiences. I would have been a Catholic child raised in Chicago with Polish ancestors – not a Hoosier with ancestry throughout Appalachia.

Frank was supposed to be my father, but instead, on a train, someplace between Philadelphia and Chicago, while traveling with the dance troupe, almost a decade later, my mother met my father, a devilishly handsome and extremely personable stranger who already had a wife…but failed to mention that pesky little detail.

The rest, as they say, is history.