I Know My Father's Name......

 Something special has happened that I never expected.

I now know my father's name.

Leo Everett Gage.

He was Irish and his maternal grandmother was a McDougal.

His wedding picture to the love of his life, Mary.

My father.... in his late 30's or 40's.....I am guessing.

This photo is made completely out of wood.

My father on the right and his brother, Noah, on the left.

My sister, Nita, and I did the 23 and me DNA testing and I discovered I am:

 68.2% British and Irish

23.4% French and German

1.3% Native American

But I did NOT discover my father on 23 and me......

instead I discovered I have a brother and two sisters!

You can imagine my surprise - and THEIRS when I turned up on their family tree.

I reached out to my brother and asked if it was possible to know the name of his father.....

as he was my father, as well.

This is my brother and the youngest sister.

I am 10 years older than Brother Buster!

His given name is Charles but goes by Buster.

I cannot look at a picture of him without having a smile on my face.

This is Rita, the sister born one year after Buster.

And this is Lori, the youngest, born September 20, 1963.

The first question I asked Lori was, "Do you crave SALT??"

Yes!!! All three siblings do!!

I love this picture of Lori in 1979 when she was a junior in high school.

Yesterday at 2:00, Buster, Rita and I had a phone visit and we talked an hour and a half.

They had a few questions and I had a few.

They have been so mazingly gracious and kind to me.

They learned a little about my history and I was eager to learn about theirs.

I will always remember the first time I heard my brother's voice!

I loved listening to his every word!

My sister, Rita, is soft spoken with a quite, gentle voice.

Can you tell I love them already?

My sister, Lori, is on vacation right now but all four of us have been texting and messaging  ever since we showed up on one another's family tree!

Our father died of cancer in 1969 at the age of 47.

He was a good man and an excellent father.

I am so amazed, surprised and excited!

I grew up with a brother and two sisters, plus I have two other younger sisters and now I find I have an younger brother and two sisters!

And actually, there is one more sister who has passed away recently.

Now I have 6 sisters and 2 brothers!

Pinch me! I still can't believe it!!

We are all talking about meeting up and all my siblings are interested in the new family I have found. There will be road trips!

Have I mentioned they are in Kansas City, MO......

where I was born.

Every one of the photos in tonight's journal entry are compliments of my new siblings.

I am grateful you are all so willing to share with me.

And I never dreamed I would ever really know.

And I already love those three precious faces I found!

I'm a Gage!

No longer a dead end when I come to my family tree!