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James Ditty (the lost brother) Click images to enlarge!

  How can I tell this story? I do not believe it, but I know it is true. I have learned over the years that many times when people relate important stories of their family’s history and origins, important details get lost and there is no corroborating evidence to back up their claims. Over the years memories fade, and details are lost from generation to generation. But in this case, we can rely on the DNA evidence, and you can’t argue with the science involved.

  Last Christmas my daughter Tina suggested we share the cost of one of those DNA kits, as a Christmas gift to my wife Patti.   

  Patti has a deep interest in her genealogy, and has spent a good deal of time researching her family. The DNA testing works like this:  you provide a sample of your DNA, then you send it off to a lab, and they are able to discern your ethnic origins, and break it down to percentages of race and geographic locations.

  It is a straightforward proposition, and then in a few weeks you receive a pretty generic breakdown of your ethnicity. There is also a little checkbox on the form that instructs them to report any DNA matches that were revealed. Patti checked the box in passing, mostly just to complete the form.

  Within a few days, Patti received a bombshell in her e-mail. A man named Dennis Ditty in Minnesota claimed to be a direct blood relative of Patti, and asked for any details about his father James Ditty who died in 1960.

  Patti was suspicious and didn’t answer the e-mail immediately, wary of some new internet scam. Instead, she asked her father if he knew of a James Ditty who like her father, was born in Tennessee but moved to Michigan early on, and was now living in Minnesota, and was about 70 years old.

  Patti’s Dad immediately said: “No”;-but then stopped mid-sentence, remembering something from his past. He recalled that more than 60 years ago after his mother died he and his brothers were placed in the county orphanage. The youngest son James was adopted by foster parents, who he learned later moved to Michigan.

  In time, the family took the rest of the children in, but by then his brother James had been adopted and moved out of state.     

  Patti’s Dad was unable to obtain any more information on James, as all the documents were sealed by the court, and later destroyed. He spent the rest of his life wondering what kind of man his little brother became.

  Patti went back to her extensive notes on her family’s genealogy, and constructed a time line of events that matched perfectly. After 60 years they had discovered the lost brother!

  The joy of discovery was tempered with the realization that James had passed so many years ago and never knew his roots.

  By all accounts James was good man, honest and hardworking who loved his kids, could draw and paint well, and had a gift for music, just like the rest of his family.

  James son Dennis, his wife Debby and family were reunited with a host of relatives they never knew they had yesterday in Vandalia, Ohio, and discovered they all had much in common.

  You can see in their faces that time and troubles had not wiped away the unmistakable family resemblances.

  I am beginning to understand now that whether we like it or not, we all need a sense of belonging, of roots, and in a word; family.

Jeff Wilson

Patti's Dad Leon (L)---Dennis Ditty (M)---------Patti's Uncle Kenny (R)

A whole lot of Family!!