Huang Nina
Northwest Asia Weekly
Annie Nguyen (left) and Kalena Johnson (photo courtesy of Annie Nguyen)
Kalena Johnson received a 23andme kit as a Christmas gift in 2019, but she sat on it for a while because she thought the man who was her father at the time had passed away.
But when she returned to her home in Seattle to visit relatives, her mother and half-sister made an Ancestry.com kit. Her sister asked her to do it too, and she waited about two months to get the result. Through these results, she discovered her true race. In her whole life, she thought she was half Filipino, but the results showed that she was actually half Vietnamese.
That was her first revelation.
She was very excited about the results because she grew up in the White Center, where there are a large number of Vietnamese.
“I am always a little sad because I have no contact with the Filipino community, but at the same time, I don’t know that I am Vietnamese. I don’t think I can really be a part of these events and cultures, but when I get the results, I am surprised I was ecstatic-because I have been with my people!” Johnson shared.
Her sister also encouraged her to try the 23andme kit, and the results came back after only a few weeks. She discovered that her first cousin lived in the greater Seattle area.
Johnson was shocked to find close relatives appeared in the results. When she made the Ancestry DNA kit, the closest non-European match was the fourth cousin.
Cousin
Annie Nguyen bought 23andme during the Black Friday 2019 discount. Her sisters have done this before, and her main goal is to conduct health tests to determine which diseases her genes are susceptible to. She would also like to learn more about her family history.
It took her several weeks to get the results, and they were pleasantly surprised to find that although she did not submit any personal information to them, how did they know that she was related to her sister based on the DNA test.
After a while, a few months ago, Johnson contacted Nguyen through the 23andme app. Johnson pointed out in her message that this was unexpected and strange, but according to their DNA, they were cousins, and she wanted to learn more about her father.
This triggered an unexpected but exciting family reunion.
Johnson told Nguyen that she was trying to learn more about her biological father and was happy to find Nguyen in the process. Johnson hopes that Nguyen can fill the gap in the family father.
Through the initial communication between the two, Johnson shared that her mother had an occasional date with a Vietnamese man in the 1980s, but her mother’s memory was not good due to her health condition.
Family reunion after three years
Johnson moved from Seattle and now lives in Tucson, Arizona, but she and Nguyen learned that they would soon have the opportunity to meet in person.
Nguyen and her girlfriends plan to travel to Sedona. They will stop in Phoenix before driving. The cousins decided to meet in person.
“It’s weird that things are moving so fast. I’m very excited, but also very nervous. I don’t want to be so weird, and I don’t want to put too much pressure on this situation. At the same time, I just want to get to know her,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that she is the only Asian who is on the side of her mother. In this sense, she is unique. She had never seen anyone like her, and was very happy to meet Annie.
Johnson said: “This crazy moment finally happened, and it happened so unexpectedly, it’s weird and great.”
Their meeting was short and sweet, but “compared to waiting 30 years to find someone with your blood, the four-hour round trip is nothing,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s mother and sister send text messages to her every day, requesting updates, and Johnson finds that she is getting excitement and pressure from her mother. It’s funny—in some ways, they seem to be more excited than her.
“I still absorb the fact that I found my cousin, I still can’t believe it,” Johnson said.
Ruan had the same reaction.
“It’s really cool to find the first cousin. This has never happened before in real life, but the fact that happened to me is really cool.”
Another crazy coincidence is that the cousins have almost the same birthday, albeit a year apart. Kalena’s birthday is November 18th, and Annie’s birthday is November 19th.
Determined to solve the mystery together, Ruan and Johnson have a major clue. Johnson’s mother said that the Vietnamese man she met had an eldest son who is still living in Vietnam. Nguyen asked her mother about this. Although her mother has several brothers, only one in Vietnam has an eldest son. Nguyen is looking at the photos of her parents’ home to see if they will reveal more information, and Johnson is checking with her mother to see if she also has the photos at the time.
Nguyen said: “I think it’s really cool to discover new family members, and most importantly, our clicks are also very good, I can definitely see us meet again and make plans.”
Although everything happened so quickly, Johnson’s initial goal was to find her father, but she said that finding Nguyen meant a lot to her.
“To understand her as a person, not just on the way to another goal.
This is a separate event, just meeting with her, anything other than that, just discovering my race is also a big deal. But meeting Annie and making her super cool and sharing common ground is much more than I thought. I was not prepared for any emotions, it was just going crazy in a good way,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Nguyen are very happy to have a new cousin, especially because they have common interests.
“It seems that some strange little coincidences have appeared. Usually in my life, when things seem to be arranged in this way, it is as if it is sacred and destined to happen. When things are in place so easily, I feel like I am going. On the right path. I’m very happy to be with her more and learn more about her. When I come home to visit, this may open up a whole new part of my life and in some way more Knowing me… it’s very exciting,” she added.
Nina can be at info@nwasianweekly.com.
