Thursday 7 November 2013

Genetically speaking...

I’ve never much understood how personality traits are shared from one generation to the next, but it completely fascinates me to see how physical features are shared among family, and how they come out in the wash, so to speak. I’m not talking obvious things like facial similarities, or a family hair colour, or similarities in shape though – rather quirky little things that are obvious at first glance.  For example:

-      I have a wayward thick long hair in my left eyebrow, just like my dad did.
-      I have a white splash birthmark at the base of my skull, under my hairline. My mom’s sister has     this (my mom doesn’t), and both my boys have it too.
-      My older son has the same gum-line that Brett and his mother have.
-      I have a divot in one of my ears at the top – as do my cousins (from the same aunt)

I love how these funny little things, that nobody would notice otherwise, link me to the generations that precede me, and how they link my boys to their ancestors too. 

What genetic quirkinesses have you noticed in your family?