Stardust Stories – 4 Generations and 28 Million Light Years (GeneaPopPop)

I have two ultra-favorite pictures related to my genealogical roots.  The first is a 4 generation picture with me sitting on my great-grandfather’s knee.  From my great-grandfather’s birth to the present (2010) is 143 years.  The picture, probably taken around 1943, covers a span of just over half that time — 76 years…  my great-granddad, Lloyd Brenner (1867-1947); my dad, Donald G. Brenner (1912 – 1990); my granddad, George H. Brenner (1888 – 1955); and me (1940 -  ). 

On the other hand, I have an ancestor whose roots go back more than 28 million years.  I can’t put this ancestor in a pedigree or a family group sheet, but am fortunate to have a recently taken picture.  Even though this picture of the “Sombrero Galaxy” was taken in 2003, it represents what my ancestor looked like about 28 million years ago.

The number of ancestors which are still visible in the far reaches of the universe is stunning.  Not all are as photogenic as “Sombrero;” some, however, are even more awe-inspiring. 

Why do I consider “Sombrero” an ancestor?  It’s quite simple, really.  It took billions of years for the universe to produce the nitrogen, oxygen, complex carbohydrates, mitochondrial DNA and ribosomal RNA that led to the possibility of producing 4 generations of Brenner males sitting on a sofa in a house on High Street in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1943.  I am as much a product of the greater processes of the universe’s continuing creation as I am of direct genealogical descent from particular (multiple g-)grandparents.  Unfortunately, I’m having difficulty deciding how to enter “Sombrero” in RootsMagic 4 and I am searching for some “proof” of connection that is a little closer in time to “Sombrero” than 28 billion years later.

I think this is more than just a simple brick wall.