We developed the Deep Nostalgia™ feature to give our users the powerful experience of seeing an ancestor in a still photo move, look around, and smile. The experience can be especially profound in a case where the user may never have had the opportunity to see that person in real life. This Father’s Day, we want to share a particularly touching story of this kind: that of Jamey Wysocki from the United States.
At 50, Jamey Wysocki found out that the man she thought was her dad wasn’t her biological father. This news was a shock and turned her world upside down.
Jamey first took a DNA test with another service and uploaded her DNA data to MyHeritage. She used several DNA sites, including MyHeritage, to piece together the puzzle of her heritage through DNA matches.
It took nearly two years of searching and piecing together DNA matches to finally confirm the identity of her biological father. Tragically, by the time Jamey found out, he had already passed away.
In her own words, Jamey expressed her feelings through a heartfelt poem:
Ron’s Daughter
I found out about you
too late,
after a DNA test
led me down a trail
to you.
We never got to meet.
You left this earth
during the time
I was searching for you.
You never knew my name,
or what I looked like.
You never got to meet my children,
and they never got the chance to call you
“Grandpa.”
So many years lost,
to secrets.
I never got a chance to know you,
and that makes it so hard.
So now, I call myself
Ron’s daughter…
this new identity that I have,
even though I never got to
know you as “Dad.”
I can only see your face in pictures,
and hear stories from those who knew you,
but the door of closure cannot shut.
You will always be
the missing part of me.
Jamey was never able to meet her father in person. However, it was MyHeritage’s Deep Nostalgia™ feature that brought Jamey something truly special: a chance to see her father smile. Using advanced AI technology, Deep Nostalgia™ animates old photos, bringing them to life. For Jamey, seeing her father smiling, even in an animated video, was a profoundly moving experience. It offered a semblance of the connection she longed for, a piece of the puzzle that she thought was forever missing.
“MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia™ helped to fill a void that was in my heart. I cried when I first saw the video, I didn’t know it would affect me like that. To see him smile was like putting a missing piece back into my story. I am so grateful to have his smile. I will cherish this for the rest of my life,” Jamey shared.
Jamey expressed her gratitude towards MyHeritage, saying, “MyHeritage helped to bring me something I could never have… my biological dad’s smile. And that is something I will always be grateful for.”
At MyHeritage, we help families reunite with their long-lost relatives and uncover their stories. We are honored to have played a part in Jamey’s story, and to have provided her with some unexpected joy and closure.
To everyone still searching for family this Father’s Day, we send our love and hope. Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there and to those who hold their memories close.
