10 / matters magazine / summer 2018 O n a late Friday afternoon in May, South Orange resident Patty Ballew stands outside of her Raymond Avenue home. She dances towards Alain Babineau, a man she was meeting for the first time. While two percussionists play traditional African drums on her front lawn, Ballew and Babineau share a deep embrace. Mo- ments later, Maplewood resident Sandra Bartlett takes Alain’s arm and gently escorts him down a red carpet. The sisters, Ballew and Bartlett, usher Babineau, along with his wife, Ann-Marie, into Ballew's home. The house is festooned with balloons. Food and drink are prepared. Family and friends grin and ap- plaud. “People are stopping in the street and saying, ‘Where are we – in Wakanda?'” says Bartlett, refer- encing the movie Black Panther. “Today, we are filled with unspeakable joy.” Just months before, Bartlett, 68 and Ballew, 66, learned of the existence of their uncle, 57-year-old Alain Babineau. They wanted to welcome their new family member with an unforgettable celebration. As Babineau and Bartlett tell it, their story be- gins with a strange coincidence. In November 2017, both decided to get their DNA tested. “At first, I thought, what difference does it make? I know who I am when I look in the mirror. I know my ethnicity,” says Bartlett, the retired welfare director of Maple- wood. “But then there was something gnawing at my spirit. I don’t have any children, but I do have nieces and nephews. They may be interested about their history sometime.” Babineau, who grew up in Québec and currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, chose to get his DNA tested at his daughter’s suggestion. “I was adopted when I was 6 months old, and I didn’t know anything about my biological father or mother,” he explains. “You always have questions about where you came from, although this wasn’t something that has been on my mind all the time.” When Bartlett and Babineau received their re- sults in January, each began their genealogical re- search. Bartlett urged her sister to get her DNA tested. “I had to convince Patty to take the test,” re- calls Bartlett. “She wasn’t happy about giving up her personal information. But I convinced her.” In mid-February, Bartlett received an email from Babineau. “He told me that his mother had Cana- dian roots and that his father had roots in Georgia and other areas down south. And he asked me if I was related to the Zieglers. I told him that I don’t know about any Zieglers in my past. But this gave me a jolt to my soul when I started to think about these people who were so close to me,” she says. “My grandfather’s name was Thomas Benbow. He was my mother’s father and I knew he used to go to Canada a lot. So, my antennae went up. I can remember talk Unraveling a DNA Mystery How a genetics test helped to grow a Maplewood-South Orange family tree BY DONNY LEVIT Sandra Bartlett walks the red carpet with her newly discovered uncle, Alain Babineau.