Day 16 - Family Resemblance

Day 16

I often joke and say that I come from a shallow gene pool, not like my grandfather is also my uncle, but more like there is not a lot of variation, especially in appearance. It is really remarkable how family traits crop up from generation to generation.

People tell me that I look just like my mom. When they do, I call her and tell her that I have a "trade last" for her. That means I have a compliment for her, but she has to tell me one that she has heard about me first. This is all in a joking spirit, not in a self-praise one. You can trust me, too, when I say she has to think a lot harder to come up with a recent compliment for me than I do for her. At 92, she is an amazingly beautiful woman with more style than most women years younger, myself included.

While my sister and I may not look so much alike, we do have similar mannerisms and voice inflection. Over the years, on occasion, I have answered her home phone when her husband called. Every single time he thought I was her. That can be dangerous. She and I have both been asked at separate times by people to whom we have just been introduced, if we were related. In years past, I have literally been stopped on the street in Downtown Nashville and asked if I was Charlie Williams' sister.

My little brother is the perfect combination in appearance and temperament as my two older brothers. One niece has an uncanny resemblance to my grandmother. I inherited that grandmother's broad hands, and, apparently, her less-than-stellar housekeeping skills. To be told that I remind someone of her is a most humbling compliment.

My nephew looks exactly like his dad. How my brother-in-law at almost 50 years old can so closely resemble his 20 year old son is puzzling. My daughter is usually told that she looks like Mr. L, and yet, in pictures of her and my niece, it is almost freaky how much they look alike. That same niece, as a little kid, looked astoundingly like my son, who looked like Mr. L when he was born, but is a total Binkley in appearance now. My younger niece is a clone of her mom at the same age, both in appearance and comedic delivery.

I had a cousin whose father always commented how alike we were, and her sister thinks she and I look alike. I sure wish I saw myself through her eyes, for while I don't think my face will necessarily "stop a watch," nor would it "launch a thousand ships" (this could be some really mixed up metaphors, but you get the drift) like hers. Her brother and another of my nephews could definitely pass as brothers. The other son in that family looks exactly like his dad.

There are many other traits passed down; the love of tinkering that my kids and I have came from my dad. Mr.  L's tendency to eat from serving dishes after a meal followed by washing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen came from his dad. Thank you, Grandaddy Switzer! The eternal, never-satisfied sweet tooth is totally from my mom. Just the other day, my son went out to buy 5 donuts and returned with 2 big boxes filled. He announced, "I have bad news; donuts are free after 2:00!"  Why would that be bad news, you ask. Because we all know that every donut will be eaten by bedtime and we will all be ill, but it would never cross our minds not to eat them all.

Simeon looks exactly like pictures of his dad at the same age, and yet, when he turns a certain way, he looks like his mom. He has a lot of his dad's personality traits and his mom's uncanny powers of observation. Violet looks just like a particular picture of my oldest brother, and almost exactly like Simeon did at the same age.

Max reminds me of my grandfather in many ways. He is extremely intelligent, yet a bit absentminded. I have enjoyed, in recent weeks, listening to him hum as he goes about playing. My granddaddy hummed all the time.

Well, enough. I am sure if you stop and think, you will see similarities handed down in your own gene pool. It is scary and comforting to think about.

Day 16 - Family Resemblance - check