Sunday marks the start of Kwanzaa and one woman is turning to education to celebrate the special tradition.

It's a seven-day, non-religious holiday observed in the United States. Kwanzaa is meant to honor African Americans' ancestral roots.

"It’s so important to convey this tradition because it’s ancient. It’s not new, it’s old, and it brings us together," Doris Fields, who celebrates Kwanzaa, said.

The tradition often involves symbolic items like a candle holder (Kinara), unity cup (Kikombe cha Umoja), placemat (Mkeka), crops (Mazao), corn (Muhindi) and gifts (Zawadi).

Fields has celebrated the holiday for over 35 years, from paying homage to ancestors to sharing hopes for the new year.

"Usually there are people in their 90s [who attend], and they have so much wisdom," Fields said. "They have so much to offer to us."

While Fields' annual events may look smaller due to the coronavirus pandemic, she said she doesn't stop the opportunity to teach.

On Sunday, her home was a haven for a small group of friends, eager to learn more about the tradition.

"There were people here who had not had Kwanzaa with us before, so it's very nice to be able to share our thoughts," Fields said.

The holiday involves seven principles, represented by candles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

"I’ve been celebrating Kwanzaa with my family. probably for the last like 10 or 15 years," Markella Clinton, who also celebrates Kwanzaa, said. "It’s something I look forward to every year. It’s a great family excuse. It’s a great community motivator as well because you don’t just have to be family to be able to come and enjoy."

According to UCHealth, a not-for-profit health care system, Kwanzaa is the fastest-growing holiday in the world.

As popularity increases, Clinton said it's important to ask important questions.

"Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to look for information," Clinton said. "Educate yourself, because it’s not a religious holiday. It’s about community engagement and having faith in yourself and having faith in your community."

The celebration lasts until Jan. 1.

A brother and sister are connecting for the first time after finding out they are related.

Days after a tornado took out most of Mayfield, Kentucky, Sean Lynch, and Judy Saxton finally met after ancestry.com DNA tests led them to one another.

In October, they discovered they shared the same father. Lynch says he never met his biological father, who started another family with Saxton's mother years later.

"I thought I was an only child after my biological brother was killed in 1994 in a car accident," Lynch said.

Saxton's daughter discovered the relation through an online DNA test after tracing their family tree.

"She got ahold of him and told him. He thought I was her grandmother," Saxton said. "But then she told him, 'That's my mom, so that's your sister. You're my uncle."

Between COVID-19 concerns and their distance — one in Colorado and the other in Kentucky — the slight chance of meeting in person. Then the tornado hit.

Lynch says he drove 14.5 hours from Littleton, Colorado, just to see his sister and deliver essentials like generators, a space heater, food, water, and love that only family can provide.

"I told my wife when I found out about her, the only thing I want for Christmas is to hug my sister," he said.

Judy is 67 years old, and Sean is 74, so the siblings have a lot to catch up on now that they've been reunited.

Stephanie Sandoval at Newsy first reported this story.

150-year-old marriage certificate found at thrift shop to be given to couple's great-granddaughter

Updated: 12:01 AM EDT Aug 12, 2021

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While cleaning a picture frame, a hope chest thrift employee found a nearly 150 year old marriage license nailed inside the back. It was so old only the year city and couples first name's William and Katie are eligible and this couple was married in New Jersey and somehow the certificate found its way to a thrift store on old Ocean highway in Bolivia north Carolina a unique find. So W. W. A. Y. Aired a story on the discovery not long after while home in upstate new york William and Katie Duckworth's great granddaughter, Irene cornish decided to log into ancestry dot com on a whim I haven't been on ancestry in quite a few months but was actually went on to research a family member on the other side and I happened to notice I had these messages, messages from viewers who were able to track cornish down. The cornish doesn't know how this love story began. She knows her great grandmother. Catherine have moved to America toward the end of the irish potato famine. Her great grandfather, William Dolworth had his own ventriloquist e and fire eating acts. But some questions still remain. Now though we don't know exactly why that marriage certificate was hidden in the back of that frame. We do know that according to ancestry dot com William and Catherine had a child out of wedlock two years before their marriage certificate was filed and how the frame wound up in north Carolina, sadly the family homestead, the person that inherited that in the family at one point basically sold everything that was in it to a local thrift shop and ultimately lost their homes. Though the mystery isn't completely solved, cornish says she feels more connected than ever to family. She's only heard stories about when my mother passed away five years ago. I don't have any family immediate family in the area where I live, so I feel a little isolated at times and so it just felt comforting that most of these people are reaching out somehow. I am connected in Brunswick county Peyton Furtado, W W A. Y News.

150-year-old marriage certificate found at thrift shop to be given to couple's great-granddaughter

Updated: 12:01 AM EDT Aug 12, 2021

A woman in New York was tracked down after her great-grandparent's marriage certificate from 150 years ago was found at a North Carolina thrift store.The marriage certificate was found nailed in the back of an old picture frame, WWAY-TV reported."I haven't been on Ancestry in quite a few months," Irene Cornish told the TV station. "I actually went on to research a family member on the other side. And I happened to notice I had these messages."Those messages were people who had tracked down Cornish after seeing a story about the 150-year-old marriage license being found.Watch the video above to learn more about this story.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. —

A woman in New York was tracked down after her great-grandparent's marriage certificate from 150 years ago was found at a North Carolina thrift store.

The marriage certificate was found nailed in the back of an old picture frame, WWAY-TV reported.

"I haven't been on Ancestry in quite a few months," Irene Cornish told the TV station. "I actually went on to research a family member on the other side. And I happened to notice I had these messages."

Those messages were people who had tracked down Cornish after seeing a story about the 150-year-old marriage license being found.

Watch the video above to learn more about this story.