Mother’s Day is coming up here in the U.S. I have a friend who is eagerly anticipating an Ancestry DNA test as a Mother’s Day gift. Her husband and two sons are being tested too. I think that’s a wonderful gift!

My mother, Betty Brown Adams, passed away two years ago, on 17 June 2015. In February of 2015, when I was at RootsTech, I purchased three kits from Family Tree DNA for my parents. I had each parent do an autosomal test (Family Finder) and I had my father do a Y-DNA test as well. (Those choices were based on a terrific RootsTech presentation I’d heard, given by Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide.)

I’m the administrator for my parents’ tests (no computer at my parents’ condo!) and I’m so happy to have the information to play with, though I have a lot of learning to do about making good use of the results. (That’s a whole different post.)

When I had my mother take the test, I had no idea she would only be with us for four more months. (She had Parkinson’s Disease, but her passing was pretty sudden.) I am so grateful that I didn’t wait to ask her to take a test.

If your parents are still alive and haven’t been tested, I urge you to consider ordering the tests for them. My folks had literally no interest in it, but they were happy to do it as a favor to me. Depending on your folks’ level of interest, it could be a wonderfully unique Mother’s Day (or Father’s Day) gift!