Woman searches for long-lost father, discovers 300 family members

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    TN (WSMV) — A woman set out to find the answers she’d long wanted about her family background. What she found out was so much more than she expected.

When you’re a teacher by trade, you emphasize research and evaluating options.

“I teach kids not just to read literature, but research the facts in regards to literature,” said high school English teacher Danielle Cooper.

For Danielle, research is part of her life. She said her father was an unclear memory. She’d met him when she was 8, but he disappeared completely from her life.

“Growing up in school, you have daddy-daughter dances, but I couldn’t because I didn’t have him by my side,” Danielle said. “It was frustrating as a child.”

Trying to find him, that teacher’s mind for research kicked in. Danielle was about to find out her dad had driven for the Chicago Transit Authority.

“I started researching past employees of CTA,” she said. “It was pretty much a dead end every time.”

Moving to evaluating options, Danielle tried 23andMe, the company specializing in DNA testing and analysis.

“All you do is literally spit in a tube and mail it off,” she said. “It took about two-and-a-half weeks.”

It wasn’t long before Danielle found a cousin and then an aunt, who started telling her about her dad, David Gaston. Then, Danielle learned her dad died 15-years-ago. She was only able to visit his grave.

“I cried for three or four days because, you know, I’ve been trying to find him all this time,” she said.

Danielle’s story doesn’t end there. She said her father was one of 17 siblings and many of their children had many children of their own. Through the 23andMe test, Danielle said she’s found 300 new family members.

“I was like, ‘oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!'” said Danielle. “I was so excited! I was like, ‘this can’t be true!’ I currently have family in California, Washington, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Hawaii.”

She doesn’t know how she’s going to meet them all.

“I’m gonna try!” she laughed. “I don’t think I can! I’ll have, like, eight cousins trying to Facetime me at once. I’m hoping we can all have a family reunion, so I can meet them all.”

Through getting to know so much new family, Danielle’s learned something. Her dad always wanted his child to have a good education. Danielle’s here today, a college grad, a teacher herself.

“The blessing in it is I still have all these family members,” she said. “It’s taught me how to be a better person and appreciate the relationship I have with people, especially my students.”

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