For the last coupe of years, I’ve been working on a legacy book for my kids, so that when I pass, they might know who they are and from where they came. I have, since its inception, tried to branch out to my siblings. I have many chapters in this book including our paternal and maternal lineage/tree, giving advise, my marriage, my childhood, how I define myself, what I think about today’s issues, my hobbies and interests, military service, life experiences, things that I’ve seen, and etcetera. I am in the process of adding a ton of pictures to a digital copy of the book. I’ll work on it until I die.

I have even gone so far as to take the DNA test given by Ancestry.com. The mother even spit in a tube for the maternal results. I hope she’ll have better luck at understanding all this than I did. I tried to nail down my ethnicity, which until now has only been by word of mouth. My mom going back as far as I can remember was full-blooded Swede. My dad was Irish. I was sure that when my test came back, it would verify my presumptions. I was very surprised when I got my email from Ancestry telling me that they uploaded my results to my profile. Great Britain 66%, Scandinavian only 11%, Finland/NW Russia 9%, Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal) 9%, AND Ireland/Wales/Scotland ONLY 2%. I figured these numbers warranted a little more study.

Don’t get me wrong, there is NOTHING WRONG with being English, but when they’ve told me my entire life that I was Irish, it knocked the wind out of me. In a way, it invalidated me. I had to go deeper into this DNA stuff. Who in the world was I? The first roadblock was the adage you hear all the time, DNA doesn’t lie. Now I may not be the sharpest tack in the box but either am I an idiot. The second roadblock was the scientific vernacular I ran up against. Words like, autosomal, haplogroup, chromosomes, mitochondrial, chloroplasts, genome, allele, genes, nucleus, karyotype, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps).

Because of the limited space constraint on this blog, that has to be the short list. (Like the commercial says, “Wait, there’s more.”) I didn’t want to be a geneticist; I just wanted to know my ethnicity. I didn’t know this but the DNA of every person is over three Billion (base pairs) letters long [Until 100 years ago there wasn’t even 3B people on the planet.]. As humans 99.5% of each of our DNA genomes is exactly the same. That leaves .3% or about 10 Million people. Because of our 25K genes this 10M drops to 25K people. Then when we have children there is a recombination called hotspots that takes place. This takes it down to us only getting our DNA from about 120 people in any given generation.

Ancestry.com’s DNA test is an autosomal test, which only links me to the region and its people. I could genealogically have ancestors in Great Britain but maybe not related genetically to these people. Like Monk used to say, “Here’s the thing.” The two main factors are migration and the conquering of nations. Many of the inhabitants of Great Britain more than likely were not indigenous to the region because of the two points I just mentioned [1]. I had a private message from a geneticist who told me that I could still be Irish. My roadblocks did not stop there.

To confuse this old brain further, I researched my surname, Warren. Because of the 1066 war, that research told me that the origin of the surname Warren is of Anglo-Norman descent, which is French “Verrenne.” This name spread to Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. From there the Warrens spread to Great Britain, Iberian Peninsula, Portugal, and finally to America. However, the name Warren is an occupational name found in the Irish surname archive meaning “Game preserve keeper.” This is all just my paternal side. Are you all just as confused as I am? Is there any wonder I yell. . .

“Who am I?”

I think maybe I have the wrong focus. Who am I? Let me tell you. . .

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. [2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV]

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. [Romans 8:29 KJV]

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. [Romans 8:37 KJV]

And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins. . . [Ephesians 2:1 ASV]

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. [2 Peter 1:4 KJV]

Here are just a few of the many more for your encouragement and edification. [2]

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[1] Reference population exclude US, Canada, and Australia because the majority of their populations are not indigenous.
[2] Romans 6:4-6; Ephesians 2:5; Romans 8:1; Romans 12:5; Ezekiel 11:19; Ephesians 1:3; Php 4:13; Colossians 2:10; Romans 8:2; Isaiah 54:14; 1 John 5:18; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5; Philippians4:7; 1 John 4:4; Ephesians 1:17, 18; Mark 16:17, 18; Luke 10:17-19; Colossians 3:9, 10; Luke 6:38; And many many more.