Friday, March 06, 2020

#8 Life questions

8. Are there any obvious or unusual genetic traits that run in your family line?

Nothing unusual.  We tended to be on the short side and often blonde with thin straight hair, but that is changing in subsequent generations.  Nearsightedness is common.  Lots of glasses in the family.  Often bifocals or occasionally trifocals and cataract surgery as we age.  I wonder if that could be related to a love of books?  I know there are a lot of book lovers in the family. 

We do have a tendency to live into our 80s and 90s...Grandma was 104.  Let's see...stubborn, independent, many avoid doctors and all medical personnel, a few have had gall bladder issues, and there's a leaning toward wanderlust and moving to new places.  We have a tendency to pack on the pounds in adulthood and then shrink down to frail little things when we're old...but still stubborn and as independent as humanly possible.

Families change over the generations and ours is doing that over time just like everyone else's.  There are always new genes added with each new love and the new babies.  And no matter what--we are each as different as snowflakes.  Who knows what the newest generation will be like?

13 comments:

Rita said...

Comment to get comments. :)

Friko said...

Hm, my family is from all over Europe, I can’t think of any common thread, except only two of us are blond while everybody else is dark-haired. And nearly all of us have a mouth on us. a bit opinionated.

pearshapedcrafting said...

I loved reading about thees genetic traits! As for me, putting on weight and then losing it when older seems to be a trend and both my Mum and my Gran, as I have, ended up living a long way from their home towns!
Diabetes runs in the family although my Gran avoided it one of her daughters and two sons had it!
The strangest trait continues in our family, neither my Mum or I can't bear to drink hot drinks and I only found out a few year ago that my brother can't either!

I'm sure I will think of others but your question brought these to mind!

Have a great weekend!
Hugs, Chris

Anvilcloud said...

In terms of lifespan that’s an awesome gene pool. I have two short parents, a short uncle (My only uncle), and 3 shorts grandparents. Yet, I was close to 6’2” and I’m probably still 6’1” (just guessing ).

Bonnie said...

It is great that one of your family's traits is longevity. Our family traits seem to be fairly run of the mill. About half of us are short and I am included in that one for sure. I used to be 5 ft. 2 in. but I've shrunk in my age down to 5 ft. There are some in my family that are diabetic and a lot with heart disease and high blood pressure.

You mentioned families changing over generations and that made me wonder about something. Here in the US there has been a big trend of children growing taller due to all the hormones in the milk and meats. Now they are finally beginning to not add those hormones due to various studies. I wonder if we will see the effect of that in new generations or if the taller children will somehow pass a tall gene on to their children?

DJan said...

We are a family of readers, too. Only one sister out of six siblings is not a dedicated reader. Breast cancer also runs in the family, and alcoholism.

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

My family are mostly on the short side my dad was 5'2" mum was taller at 5'4" taller. My brother is the tallest at 5'10"

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I'm thrilled to read along with your questions. Genetics play a huge part in our makeup and I'm delighted to read you come from a long line of people who live long lives (that sounded a bit redundant).

froebelsternchen said...

Good genes Rita!
Happy weekend!

Divers and Sundry said...

Yes, we tend towards "short" also, and at my tallest I was about 4'10" so will likely win that one forever lol

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

My family is on the shorter side as well, average height under 6 feet by a few inches ir so. Having hair is thankfully a good trait as is longevity.

Janie Junebug said...

My late brother, my four sisters, and I have all needed glasses. We love to read, too.

Love,
Janie

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

These are great questions. It's interesting to see patterns with medical challenges and personality traits. Your family has lived long lives! Most of my ancestors have died relatively young.