"You’ve seen the commercials on TV where someone thought they were of Irish descent only to find out through an ancestry service they were from somewhere else. I’m that person.
I always thought I was of Swedish descent only to find out recently that I’m mostly Irish. It took spitting in a tube to find out the results from the service 23andMe.
My mother’s maiden name is Sampson which relates directly to the biblical name. I also learned that it was Irish. The results from the test also showed life expectancy for my family was the early 70s. I found this interesting since my mom has 4 siblings, the oldest almost 90 and all her siblings are living. I’m thinking the longevity comes from my grandmother’s side of the family.
Through the DNA testing I found out that the name Pearce is also Irish. It showed that most Pearces are living in California. Before my dad passed away in 2011 he received a call from a Judge Pearce who was living in California. He was trying to track down Pearces throughout the United States.
The test proved to be right when it said most Pearces and Sampsons were farmers.
Both of my grandfathers were farmers.
I never got to meet my Grandpa Pearce. He passed away before I was born.
My grandmothers were such inspirations to me. My Grandmother Pearce was what I like to think of as a Martha Stewart of her time. She had beautiful gardens, loved to make Sunday dinners for our family and canned fruits and vegetables.
My Grandmother Sampson was a strong woman raising 5 children.
She loved to bake and usually had fresh homemade dessert when you went to her home.
To this day I like to have fresh flowers in my home and I think I inherited that love from my Grandma Pearce.
My love for baking comes from my Grandma Sampson.
My Grandpa Sampson was such a hard worker and he instilled that work ethic in his children and grandchildren.
I’ve decided next year I might take St. Patrick’s Day more seriously since I’m mostly Irish and not Swedish.
