Making Tough Decisions

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I’ve recently had to make a pretty big decision. It was big to me, although in the scope of my entire life, it would seem inconsequential. I actually struggled for weeks with this. I declined something I thought I was being called to do. But when I look back, this decision had been there all along.

When this opportunity first presented itself, I was gung ho. But in the back of my mind I was hearing, wait, the timing isn’t right.  But I didn’t heed that voice. I just went headlong and even talked about it with enthusiasm. All the while, that Voice was imploring me to wait. (Psalm 27:14)

Family Reunion: Making Memories

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

We’ve recently had my husband’s two sisters and their husbands visiting. Sue, the younger of the two, and her husband Bill live in Athens, Greece, and we don’t see them very often. Kay and her husband Randy live in Birmingham and they’ve come several times since we’ve lived in North Carolina. It’s been five years since the three siblings were together.

One thing families always seem to do is reminisce about the olden days. We are no exception.  They talked about people and places they all remember from their childhoods. I’ve heard these stories so often after almost forty-five years of being married to the baby of the family, that I know many of the people and places, too. And it doesn’t hurt that my husband’s mother grew up in my hometown. We graduated from Andalusia High School, twenty-eight years apart.

Almost Home but Lost

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

My husband and I recently made the long trip from our little villa in the Tampa area of Florida, 650 miles up the road to our condo near Asheville. This was our fifth or sixth trip up here since the beginning of the year. I actually lost count. Suffice it to say, when you are of a certain age and you’re traveling up and down the roads on trips that far, it can wear on a body. In spite of that, we decided to make it in one day.

I haven’t driven a lot since about 2011. That year, we went from a three-car family to a one-car couple. Our youngest was off in college and he needed reliable transportation. Seeing no need for us to have two cars, we sold J’s car to said son. Along with the loss of the car meant that I drove very little. My husband became my chauffeur. As one of my dear friends so aptly put it, J (that’s my husband)  was spending his days, Driving Miss Debbie.

Now picture a woman who hasn’t driven more than a handful of times in the past seven years, having no choice but to drive the family car from Tampa to Asheville. It was an undertaking I wasn’t in the slightest looking forward to, but I did it with mostly a smile on my face.

Precious Memories Linger On

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Do you ever experience days in which memories come flooding without any warning? I had one such day this past week. Of course, I was talking to my sister at the time. I was working on last week’s blog about churches closing their doors. Our thoughts soon turned to the little town in which we grew up. Andalusia, Alabama, was a great place in which to live out our formative years. It is small-town USA, but it was filled with the best teachers, mentors, Sunday School teachers, pastors, friends, one could hope to have.

Sissy didn’t spend as much time in Andalusia as I. She entered the eleventh grade the year we moved there and soon went off to college and marriage. I was in the fourth grade at East Three-Notch Elementary School.  Mrs. Jay was my teacher. I have fond memories of her.

WWJD: The Story of In His Steps

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

My sister recently gifted me with a bunch of old books. I brought the box of books home where I put it aside until a couple of weeks ago. When I finally got around to going through them I found an old, yellowed copy of In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon. The introduction in my copy dates it as 1956. I remember hearing about this book in the past, but I wasn’t as familiar with it as I would be if I had read it. I finally got it out and began reading. One of the things that stood out to me as I read the preface was that this is the source of the phrase, what would Jesus do?

I don’t know about you, but I thought this was a twentieth-century-coined phrase. Late twentieth century. I had not heard it until my children were in youth group at our church and they all began wearing the rubber bands with the anacronym printed upon it—WWJD. I called my sister and talked to her about this book. She reminded me that Mama had a copy of it when we were girls. That’s why the title seemed familiar to me. Still, it wasn’t a book that I had read. By now, I was intrigued. I had to learn more.

When DNA and Art Colliide--Chromosome Painting

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Last week I went over the basics of DNA testing. As I said, I am not an expert. I just happen to be the person most people in my family go to for information. The likely reason for that is that they are only marginally interested in our ancestors at best. To me, they are an integral part of the person I am today. Even though I have never met the majority of my ancestors, I feel a deep connection to each of them.

But it isn’t just about the DNA. The largest part of learning about one’s ancestors is discovering their personal stories. My great-grandmother’s story impacted me so personally that I wrote my first novel, a cozy mystery, centered partly around her missing grave. To this day, we still have no clue where she is buried in spite of searching for her for over twenty years.

DNA Testing--Yes or No?

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

A few of my cousins on both sides, my and my husband’s, have asked if I’ve taken a DNA test, and if so, which one I chose. The answer is, yes, I have. I did the Ancestry test a couple of years ago. I tested, my husband tested, and so did all four of our sons.

The Ancestry test is autosomal. At this point, that is the only test Ancestry offers. It is very popular, in part, in my opinion, because it is far less costly than many of the others, especially if one waits for a sale. The cheapest I’ve seen it is $59. It is normally $79. FTDNA can be as high as $500. That’s a lot of money. 23andMe is $99 on Amazon, $199 if you choose to do genealogy and health. They had another one, MyHeritage for $75. I’m not familiar with this one, but I’ll do some research before next week and I’ll make inquires of my cousins.

But cost shouldn’t be the only factor when one is choosing a DNA test. It actually depends on what you wish to learn about yourself and your ancestors. The three main types of testing available are autosomal, mtDNA, and Y-DNA. Let’s delve into what each is.