Ancestry Test Results
My DNA test revealed a family secret and solved an existential puzzle
Everything I thought I knew about my life spiraled into a double helix. I stood for some time in the bathroom staring in the mirror, examining every detail of my arms, hands, and face. I attempted to see some semblance of my mother’s likeness reflected back, or something of my father’s. I thought of how invisible ink markers reveal the outline of a face when traced over in magic coloring books. Yet I never imagined I’d visually trace the outline of my own face to reveal the mystery of the two unknown parents who made me.
I went into my desk drawer and fished out a stack of old family photos, sifting through each one for a clue. My eyes scoured a picture of my mother’s face in 1979. I noticed the familiar sadness in her eyes, her mouth frozen into a Mona Lisa smile, feigned happiness outlined in frosted pink Revlon lipstick. She argued with my father that afternoon and he refused to come outside. This wasn’t unusual. It was just another drama scene. My parents hired a portrait photographer to take family photos in our backyard that day. Of course, they were fighting when the photographer arrived.
“If your father would just get his ass downstairs, we’d have a family photo already,” my mother muttered under her breath. She took a drag off her Benson & Hedges cigarette and blew the smoke…
