Adrienne Abiodun: Part 1. Off the grid globetrotter. Enduring loss.

Daughter Dialogues

Adrienne discusses the need for greater suicide prevention support for military personnel after she endured losing her father, who served in the U.S. armed forces, to unaddressed mental trauma; losing her hearing at 16 years old from a car accident; how her off the grid exploration in Tajikistan’s Wahkan Valley in the Pamir mountains led to her interest in DNA testing for genealogy and a search for her heritage after having learned that her dad was not her biological father at 10 years old; beginning her career after studying video production at the Art Institute of Los Angeles; interspersing volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Romania, Ethiopia, and Kenya among jobs in mobile marketing including her walking from New York to California for Steps Across America; leaving the workforce to raise her children; enjoying playing capoeira, fitness, botanical gardens and learning Farsi in her free time; discovering the realities of using DNA tests to research genetic ancestry; becoming a professional genealogist; her family not knowing or talking about their past; how family history was lost by fleeing Mississippi for California and never returning; descending from Revolutionary War patriot Christopher Guice; and discovering lies on her grandfather's birth certificate. In the next episode, Part 2, hear about Adrienne’s findings and what happened when she contacted the leader of the Connecticut State Society Daughters of the American Revolution and told her that they descend from the same patriot ancestor and therefore her family has mixed race heritage. Read Adrienne’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters
Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com
Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Chapters

1. Adrienne Abiodun: Part 1. Off the grid globetrotter. Enduring loss. (00:00:00)

2. Born in Angeles City, Philippines, parents in Armed Forces (00:00:26)

3. Learning that dad was not biological father at 10 years old, biological heritage missing link (00:01:32)

4. Studying video production at Art Institute of Los Angeles (00:05:37)

5. Life story felt like a musical, joining father on speed filled adventures (00:06:01)

6. Losing hearing at 16 from car accident, frightened about impact on dream to be a music video director (00:08:09)

7. Losing father in divorce, reconnecting, then losing him to suicide; mental health support needs for military service members (00:11:16)

8. Settling in Florida, shifting from entertainment industry to mobile marketing (00:17:42)

9. Leaving workforce to raise children (00:19:01)

10. Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Romania, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, and Kenya (00:19:28)

11. Walking from NY to CA for Steps Across America (00:23:23)

12. Off the grid exploration in Tajikistan Wahkan Valley Pamir mountains leading to interest in DNA genealogy testing (00:26:19)

13. Free time pursuits of playing capoeira, fitness, botanical gardens and learning Farsi (00:30:28)

14. Realities of using DNA tests to research genetic ancestry (00:32:29)

15. Becoming a professional genealogist (00:35:53)

16. Ad mixture ethnicity test results (00:36:36)

17. Family not knowing or talking about history past great grandparents, family history lost by fleeing MS for CA and never returning, investigating lineage through DNA testing (00:36:51)

18. Descending from Revolutionary War patriot Christopher Guice (00:41:00)

19. Cousin encouraging to join DAR (00:42:20)