Who do you take after? Your mother or your father? Are you a blend and do you wish you were more like one or the other? Do you ever wonder how you would have turned out with different parents? Are you happy with your genetic inheritance?
I never knew my father, but I am a lot like my mother: from the back we looked the same. From the front, I got more from her mother than she did. ,-D
Character, though, is similar; The things I fight against in myself - spikiness, reserve, needing the last word and a hand on the steering wheel - are those I didn't like in her, and the good things are from her, too - love of learning, sense of humor, creativity, integrity.
Genetically, I'm pretty lucky, I guess; average, normal, fairly healthy, and look young for my age. Who could ask for more?
Well, I have to chuckle a bit about that, Ubu, because if I didn't know my own father, I had a row of replacements - three more, to be exact. Serial monogamy ruled - perhaps one reason I stayed married to one man for 38 years!
On my dad's side their is a history of heart problems on my mom's side most of her relatives lived well into their nineties. Well, at least the women did. My mom lived to be 85 and died as a result of a heart attack. My dad is still living at the age of 87 and the way he's going may be the one that surpasses 90. His dad died at the age of 62 of congenital heart failure. So who knows which genetic make up I have. My luck I'll be killed by a pack of rabid Chihuahua's.
I come from a large family (Over 35 relatives in my generation alone), and just about all of the ones on my mom's side fear me. But then, most of my mom's folks firmly believe that Richard Nixon was a humble, honest, kind-hearted, godly man who got a raw deal, that Jesus goes through your sock drawer while you're at work and that if you come from anywhere that they've never heard of then you can't be trusted - So there's that to be considered. Which is fine by me. Being the Black Sheep in a crew like that has it's advantages.
My dad's family are far more relaxed and easy-going, and can take a damn joke. We didn't get to see a lot of each other growing up, for various reasons, but now we're all pretty close. I'm much more comfortable around them than I am around my mom's side.
Weirdly, while I bear no physical or mental resemblance to anybody on the maternal side (aside from having two eyes and the ability to walk upright), I have inherited some of their health issues - HBP and cholesterol problems. My dad's side, whose problems tend to lean towards the emotional (substance abuse, violence) - I have no trace of any of that, even though there is a stronger physical resemblance.
I look more like my father's family but have the stature of my mother's side. Both sides of my family are long lived so I guess I'll be around for a few decades yet. Of course I don't have a real great medical record, cancer and Crohn's so that will probably come to play but WTF, its been fun.
My physical appearance comes from both parents. I can't blame either for my personality. The 5 siblings in Dad's family lived into their 80's, the 2 youngest are still with us. The 7 siblings in Mom's family all died of cancer before reaching 80, Mom the youngest at age 34 of breast cancer. I need a cigarette, I never claimed to be real smart.