Family Strangers

When I was in high school, I wrote a short story about what I thought my next trip to Cameroon would be like. I envisioned knowing no one in the land, while everyone knew me. I couldnt have been more right as I found out last March.
This summer I am preparing high school students for college in the fall at the University of Maryland, College Park. I had them do a ancestral assignment, in order for them to really delve into how they came to be where they are now, through family ties. Many of them complained about not being able to do the assignment because they had deceased parents and grandparents, but I encouraged them to work with what they had, they might be able to discover some things. One girl found out that she is related to Francis Scott Key and others discovered the meaning behind their last name.
Overall, it was a successful project, but it made me think about my own family and the difficulty I would have with a project such as this. I dont speak to my father and know nothing about his family. I'm sure that I could go to his village and ask questions, but with the short life expectancy in Cameroon, I'm worried that people may die before I learn about who they are. My mother is very reserved and does not like talking about her family. I just found out last year that I have a brother, who is 26 and now I wonder what else may have been hidden from me. I never met my grandparents. I have a slew of cousins, but I am not very clear on the path to our relation.
The family that I feel closest to in the US are not even blood relatives. They are my mother's closest friends.
As I've gotten older, the idea of family strangers, that I took so lightly is frightening. I am looking foward to beginning my own legacy bu starting a family, but I want to be able to give my children a clearly idea of where they came from.
Maybe I'll embark on this ancestral assignment myself.