Travelling through Time with iGENEA: A Personal Journey Tracing the Surname 'Till'
Family name Till
Recounting the revelations and emotional roller-coaster of a journey through a personal iGENEA DNA test, the narrative focuses on developing a newfound understanding and respect for the surname ‘Till’, its historical implications and ancestral legacy. The experience reshapes the familial perspective, linking DNA with identity.
Discovering my genetic past through iGENEA was a simultaneously profound and startling experience. The entire process was steeped in anticipation and curiosity, sprinkled generously with a sense of exhilaration. It was akin to slowly turning the pages of a cherished, ancient book, revealing inscriptions of my frame of reference, my biological inheritance and more essentially, my core identity.
Peeling off the layers of my antiquity, on first call, was taxing. I was overwhelmed with a surfeit of emotions. There was a strange, poignant mixture of fear and curiosity riding my psyche – fear of uncovering disconcerting facts that might shake the foundations of my reality, and a matching curiosity to transcend the narrow parameters of my known lineage and delve deeper into the confluence of genealogy and genetics.
As I first learned to spell 'Till' as a toddler, I kept the letters close to my heart. It was more than a mere construct of syllables or a cognate. It was the umbilical cord that connected me to my father, my family, and everyone before him. Discovering the roots of 'Till' with iGENEA was a seismic shift in my perspective on my kinship and surname.
The revelation that 'Till' was of ancient North European origin awoke a sense of curiosity for historical cultures and societal norms. There was a certain gravitas lent to my surname knowing that it was carried through the annals of history, stretching beyond the centuries. I began perceiving my family in a new light, not just as people I shared a living space and timeline with, but as the beholders of a proud lineage running back through time immemorial, the carriers and propagators of the 'Till' legacy.
The iGENEA experience was monumental, bringing about a significant change in my perspective. It wasn't just about the unveiling of physical DNA sequences, but a profound exploration of myself. It felt as though I was linking my DNA, traced back through the eons, directly to my sense of self.
G. Till