Motivational Quotes With Danny

from Biz X magazine October 2022

by Biz X magazine

Biz Bits: Social Media Etiquette

Leo Martel on the left (Joe’s biological father in his early 30s); Joe McParland on the right (in his early 50s).

appeared online to reveal I am mostly French and English, not Irish like my surname.

In addition — and here’s the important part — I have over 40,000 cousin matches.

That is, other people who have taken the test and have DNA related to mine!

By examining those cousin matches and sorting the closest ones into maternal and paternal groups, Fred noticed a pattern. As he explains “One name stood out in the family trees of the matches on the paternal side, and that name was Martel.”

Fred developed a theory that my BF was one of three Martel brothers who grew up on Windsor’s west side: George, Victor or Leo.

His investigation then found a local Martel named Don on Facebook, and they began to exchange information.

It turns out that Don is Leo’s son.

Don informed Fred that his own son, Christopher “took a DNA test at a different company, 23andMe (23andme.com/en-ca) and perhaps that might shed light on this.”

Coincidentally, Don, Chris, and I were all Facebook friends, though I didn’t know either of them. So, Chris, Fred and I had a video chat, where Fred instructed Chris on how to upload his data to a site called GEDmatch (GEDmatch.com) where DNA results from different companies can be compared.

Comparing Christopher’s results with mine showed that we are closely related.

He was either my half nephew or my first cousin once removed. Only by his father taking a test of his own would we find out which relationship was correct.

Don readily agreed to be tested and when his results came back, those results made it clear that he is my half brother; we both share the same father, Leo Martel.

As Don tells us with a big smile, “It’s 99.9% certain he’s (Joe) my brother!”

And his son, Christopher chimes in “I am so excited to have ‘Uncle’ Joe as part of our family. Until now, I stood alone as the only gay person in the Martel family. Knowing Joe is my uncle and is also gay is awesome.”

So that’s how my nearly 70-year-old personal mystery of “who’s my daddy” came to be solved. In Fred’s words it was “just by spitting in a tube!”

My BF Leo died in 1964 of cancer, when I was 11, although I never knew he existed. He was 34 years of age.

I don’t know whether he ever knew about me, but he is my biological father just the same. As I indicated earlier, my BM died in 1989.

My AF died of cancer in 1970 when I was 17 years old. My AM died of Parkinson’s related issues in 2002.

In the past year I also discovered by coincidence that a neighbour of mine for the past 20 years is my first cousin once removed on my BM’s side. Janice Forsyth is a self-employed consultant, operating as Foresight Management Consulting (ForesightConsulting.ca).

This is her account of our connection: “My mother always talked about the great-nephew she had never met. She would talk about how hard it was for a young woman in the 1950s to have a child on her own. Although I had met Joe, waved to him as we walked by his house, and even been interviewed by him over the years, it wasn’t until one day recently, when Joe spoke to my husband about his Birth Mother being a Bensette that I knew we had found my long lost cousin (first cousin once removed). I only wish my mom was here to meet him!”

Forsyth continues: “The discovery was confirmed when I did my own DNA ancestry test — 38% England and Northwestern Europe; 37% Scotland (my dad’s side) and the rest a mix of Germanic Europe, Sweden and Ireland. We are so happy for Joe and welcome him to our family.”

My friends, October is a time of Thanksgiving, a time for us to celebrate the gifts in our life. For me, that is family, friends, and good health.

I am so grateful to have found answers to my nearly 70-year-old questions and to have expanded my circle of family here on earth and beyond.