Six degrees of separation

What get’s passed down from generation to generation?  Good?  Bad?  Lets ponder this awhile.  I could argue that all the bad seeps through the seems.  I could say the good is there but not as prevelant.  And then I could be all wrong.  In my own family I can only see the negative side.  Alcoholism is a disease.  And my family heritage is rich with it.  A few got sober and stayed sober, a few eeked by with a drink now and again and the the rest….  Oh boy.

My dad, brothers and my son all have the exact body type.  Tall, lean (well at least they used to be), wide shoulders.  My dad was the epitomy of good looking.  And all the woman flocked to him.  My aunt told me the other day that my dad couldn’t help himself…… he had to marry all those woman. 

What about character?  Does our family shape it?  Does our past define it?  Or does our present (whatever that is) make it all fit? 

Emotions?  Why are some born with the ability to keep it in ‘check’ and some not.  (as in me).

Some are tall, some can sing.  Smart?  Good looking? (and I didn’t mean to sound like Dr Seuss.  (I don’t like green eggs and ham).

The answer is “I don’t know”  Do you?  I have thought about criminals and how they got to that point.  Upbringing?  Plight in life?  Drugs/Alcohol?  I don’t believe anyone, as a child says, “hey when I grow up I’m gonna……………” and include being a thug. 

And what about perceptions and how everyone has their own (although mine is skewed at best).  I have a natural curiosity that had to have come from somewhere.  My friends have dubbed me the ‘interviewer’ as I am prone to ask too many questions.  But I have a genuine interest in people.  Unless they are mean……..  Then I run the other way.

Oh and what about health?  Family history is really important in that one. 

So here is where I’m going with this.  What if we can change how our future generations act.  Not sure about looks though.  My dad died in 1992.  My son was 11 at the time.  I was shocked one day when I glanced at him and he was (my son) holding a cigarette just like dad.  He laughs like him.  He loves the woman… like him.  He drank like him.  He got sober, like he tried too.  Generational or not? 

Then there is my daughter who in high school her coach told her she looked just like me.  I was really proud of that.  Not sure if she was or not.  As the years rocked on I found less and less of myself in her and more and more she began to look and act like “that other side of the family” Which isn’t a bad thing, but it reminds me that choosing a mate and the father/mother of your children goes beyond the darkness of the night. 

Personalities.  Hmmm.  I do not have any traits of either of my parents, that I can see.  Although I didn’t really get to know either one very well.  They were both gone too early.  Too young. 

My (ex) son-in-law did not look like his dad or mom.  That troubled his dad for many, many years.  “is he mine” plagued his thoughts at times.  Well years later we were sifting through old family photos and wham!  We find a picture of an uncle.  Seems it was his mother’s brother or uncle.  I can’t remember.  But there was the ‘proof’.  There was that ‘gene’ that tied him (S-I-L) to the pack.  Seems it skipped a generation and showed up in the form of an uncle. 

So, do you look like?  Act like?  Walk like, …………… someone close or do you wonder?

So whether your lineage looks like this

Or this..........................  We're all connected...... Wouldn't you agree?

Whew!  I’m sweating at such a long post.  Forgive me……………….