Mothers Day 2025

LET'S TALK GENETICS

In human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve is the most recent common matrilineal ancestor of all living humans. In other words, she is the world's single female ancestor, the woman from whom all current humans descend through their mothers. She lived approximately 140,000 - 200,000 years ago. She is not the first female ever (others existed before and alongside her) but the one that all living humans can trace their matrilineal lineage to in a direct line. This means that as matrilineal lineages die out, the position of Mitochondrial Eve keeps moving forward to younger individuals over time. 

Mitochondrial Eve is always changing. She not only represents an actual person but is also a symbol of an everlasting Mother. We're all tied to her. 

So much of our focus today is on our differences (religions, cultures, ways of life....) but when we take a step back and look at our collective ancestry, we actually all come from the same Mother. We feel this is important to remember... we are each a continuation of her, and the thousands of ancestors who came after her. 

On this Mothers Day we choose to honor both the Mothers of today but also all the unseen and unknown Mothers who have come before us. 

Sending love and blessings to all. And of course we mustn't forget the greatest Mama of all... Mother Earth.

Here are three generations of women in our family ~ born in '55, '88, and '22. We are the Wang women. Our youngest, Meilu, is the last to carry our ancestor's thread.

Robin, Kelly, and Meilu.

Photographed in Bali, Indonesia by Cathryn Rose Deleon (@weaveroflight). 2025.