I believe every family deserves to know where they came from.

My journey into genealogy began in the most personal way possible — as an adoptee who, after my adoptive parents passed away, felt completely lost. Like an orphan all over again. For 56 years, I had no family medical history. Neither did my child.

All I had to start with was a government Adoption Order — with my name physically cut out of it. But it had a number in the top right corner. I made a copy, submitted it with the appropriate fee to the agency, and waited. Eight weeks later, I was so excited when I picked up the reply that I sat in my car and opened it right there in the parking lot.

Inside was my original Adoption Order — with my birth name. I rushed home and called my daughter immediately. My birth first name, which I had never known in my entire life, was the same first name I had given her.

The non-identifying information that came with it was just what it says — redacted names and addresses — but it included my birth mother's age (22 when I was born), her general health, religion, education, occupation, and the number and genders of her siblings. My birth father's information was similar. I also learned about both sets of my birth grandparents. My mother's parents were 71 and retired — too old to raise another child — and she didn't have a job that paid well enough to do it alone. My birth father, as was quite common in that era, had nothing to do with her once she became pregnant.

Armed with my birth surname and the fact that I was born Mennonite, I contacted the Head Librarian at Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo — a Mennonite college. He steered me to a URL with all things Mennonite genealogy, showed me how to search, and using the non-identifying information I had, I discovered my birth mother's name and her entire family. That was the launching pad for everything I now love to do.

My own research eventually led me to discover my brother's birth parents as well. I am currently helping my half-brother trace his father's side through DNA genealogical testing. Oh, what a tangled web our ancestors weave — and what a privilege it is to help unravel it.