I Took A DNA Test 8 Years After My Dad Died To Finally Learn About His Side Of The Family

My parents got married in October 1983 when they were both younger than I am right this second. My mom stitched together her own gown and rocked her very '80s eyewear while my dad was still clinging to his '70s feathered hair.

Known to everyone but me and my brother as Callie and Bob, they both already were part of big families: my mom was the youngest of nine siblings, while my dad landed smack dab in the middle of seven brothers and sisters.

They kept their own family much smaller with my older brother, Adam, and myself.

Please pardon the blurriness of the photo above — my mom was likely sleep deprived when she took it. I was apparently quite the uncooperative baby when it came to bedtime for about the first month and a half of my life.

As you can see, my mom has done plenty of work mapping out her own side of my family tree. She made it all the way back to her great-grandpa, who was born in New York to parents fresh off the boat from Scotland.

I honestly didn't think I'd be able to figure out much of anything on my dad's side, even with the DNA test, since he's no longer around to take one for comparison.

Plus, the Catcher side of the family is complicated even before trying to look back further into previous generations. The three eldest "siblings" are actually my dad's cousins who were taken in by his mother when they lost their parents. They were all raised as brothers and sisters, though, and I call them all my aunts and uncle.

As you can see in my "family tree" above, my dad and his youngest siblings don't share the same father.

Luckily, the woman from AncestryDNA whom I corresponded with was very optimistic about the results and how they might compare to other members of my family.

My uncle Brian, the youngest member of the Catcher family (on the left in the photo above), agreed to take the test.

Despite being just half-siblings, Brian's test results could still help shed light on the genes passed down to me and my brother.

I was so excited when the package arrived at my office. A few moments later, I was terrified I was about to mess the whole thing up.

It's a totally easy process, but my clumsy nature still worried me as I went through all the contents.

Each kit has to be activated on their website. This is what ties your DNA materials to the results, so it's an important first step.

It was a little embarrassing to fill the tube while sitting at my desk surrounded by my coworkers. It was also more difficult than I thought to fill it all the way to the line (they make a note to say you have to hit the line with the actual liquid, not the bubbles you also produce).

This was the part I thought I would do horribly wrong, but the cap twists easily onto the tube and releases the solution into your saliva. Then, you just give it a good shake for about five seconds.

The collection bag is easy to seal, too, and it comes with a dash of legalese about your consent to have the DNA processed through their facilities.

The results were honestly not at all like I expected. Even my mom with her extensive research into her own family tree was stunned by the Scandinavian presence in her genes.

My uncle, on the other hand, was surprised by the amount of Native American genes, considering he's listed as at least 15% with the Cherokee Nation.

The biggest letdown, however, was definitely my brother finding out just how much Irish heritage actually made its way down to us.

Growing up, we calculated a rough estimate making us both about a quarter-Irish. We've clung to this over the years as the most of any one ancestry we could be. As much as I loved the idea, Adam was far more invested in it than me — he even has two clover tattoos on his arms.

I'm more fascinated by the fact that my brother is somehow 7% while I'm only 4%. It seems strange at first, but it is apparently common for siblings to inherit differing values of their shared genetic makeup.

The Great Britain aspect that overwhelms both of us, though, most likely comes from Scotland on my mom's maternal side of the family.

That said, it could also confirm the rumor of my dad's family's ties to Winston Churchill through his dad. My uncle barely had any Great Britain in comparison to the rest of us, so we probably got more British roots from our dad's father.

I loved digging through all of the information. It obviously wasn't a magic test that revealed all of the secrets I've been trying to crack; that would be hard work for a small tube of spit to do all on its own.

Still, it definitely gave me a fuller picture of what makes up my genetic past. I'm also excited to see how the next generation, like my cousin Katie and nephew Alex above, might have even more surprising results of their own.

If you're looking to find out more about your own family history, I absolutely recommend giving AncestryDNA a chance.

Be sure to SHARE my experience using DNA tests with Facebook friends who might be considering doing the same!