Return to the Fatherland

In 2002, while ‘phishing’ online on an ancestry message board, something caught my attention concerning the Paraiso clan. I hadn’t established an email address and was using our son Leon’s, when a post reply popped up which read, “My name is Chakirou Constantin. I’m from Africa in Benin but I was born in Cameroun. Now I live in Paris. My grandfather’s name is Paraiso Joseph. He was born in 1892 in Benin. I don’t speak English, I’m only trying to speak.” My heart pounding, I answered in kind, stating my name, my father and grandfather’s name and their origins. He countered with “Mr. Leon Cabbell and Richard Bienvenu Paraiso and me are the same family, have the same grandfather, Joseph Paraiso who was born in Porto Novo, Benin.” A vital link had finally been connected.

One wintry night I received a phone call from Boston from a person named Antoine Paraiso. As we talked, I discovered that he was my father’s first cousin - his father was my grandfather’s brother. He questioned me regarding my family and other areas of my life. I later learned that Antoine had been delegated to initiate a background check to investigate my motives. I must have passed the test, because the door that had been locked for decades had yawned wide open.

Once my background was cleared, I began receiving a flood of emails from my relatives. In the interim, I had learned that my African kin had a website named Notrefamile.com. Upon my request, I received a password and gained admission to the online Paraiso family clan. Thanksgiving Day 2002, I accesses the website – with alacrity and anxiety – and met my father’s people, my people for the first time; for hours I talked with my relatives, cross-checked information and matched pictures with names I had discovered years before. It was a great holiday, and a precursor of greater things to come. I fervently thanked God for bringing me to this point in my quest.

By year’s end I had met many of my kinfolk, sometimes talking and emailing daily. One of my more frequent contacts was with cousin Antoine Paraiso, who called one day to relay some wonderful new – he and a host of our cousins were making the trip to Richmond to visit us!

We were ecstatic to receive news that we were to finally meet. Antoine lived in Maine, and informed me that cousin Joanna Paraiso, who was visiting from Sweden, would be accompanying him on the trip. Also joining them was cousin Abdul Traore of New Jersey – I’d met him on the website. After discussing the date and time of their arrival, we began making preparations in eager readiness of the event.

January, 2003 was the big day. My spirits were high, though my nerves were stretched taut. Thoughts of past successes wrestled with memories of disillusionment and failure in my mind. Awaiting the reunion, I steeled myself for possible disappointment, while praying for the best. By 2:00 pm my mother and sister’s family had arrived, and with my entire family gathered about me, we bode our time in nervous anticipation.

A call came in from Antoine that they were nearby, but had taken a wrong turn. I grabbed my coat and was out of the door in two strides, glad to be of service, glad that my cousins had made the journey successfully. It was actually happening! The connection and convergence of the Paraiso family from opposite sides of the Atlantic

We arrived back home and were warmly greeted by my family. Introductions were made amid lots of hand shakes and embraces. Those present – Antoine, Joanna, and Abdul, with his wife Joke (pronounced Yoke) and brother Seidou appeared relaxed and genuinely glad to be in attendance; I know we were so glad and honored to have them. The reunion was lively; while dining on southern cuisine we talked, snapped pictures and exchanged old photographs as Afro-Cuban music filtered through the background. At one point I gazed contently around the room, aware that this was the first of countless Paraiso kinfolk that we would meet in years to come. Feeling sated physically and emotionally, I thanked God for fulfilling my dream. This was going to be a very good year.

A good year it was, exchanging calls and emails with family, discovering kinships and establishing friendships, the bonds ever strengthening. Pictures of Adrienne and I were added to the family website by cousin Joanna and daughter Nicole. Meanwhile, I continued to root around the family tree.

In the summer of 2004 as I was preparing for work, I received a call from Africa that would change my life. A woman was speaking excitedly in broken English, stating that she was my first cousin, and that my grandfather had left a house and property for us. As I attempted to get additional information, her phone went dead. Shortly after I received another call, this time from a man, insisting the same message; again the phone went dead.

I was stymied, pondering this newfound change in affairs, scanning mental data concerning the wealth of my ancestors. There were references to Paraiso wealth, but never in my wildest imaginings had I thought that an inheritance would be forthcoming. Doubt and exhilaration battled within me as I questioned the authenticity of the call; I remembered the overseas money scams that were rampant during that period. Confusion gripped me, and knowing that God was not the author of confusion, I sought His direction. Peace immediately enveloped me as I yielded to the witness in my spirit. I exhaled, knowing that a change was on the horizon. God was about to move.