Interesting question, at least to me, for a couple of reasons.
When I was young, I very clearly took after my mom more, in terms of temperment, disposition, intellect (if you will), low self esteem, and several other attributes. My brother was the exact opposite, taking after my father in his very stable yet adventurous come-what-may take on life (again, among other traits.)
As we've grown older, my brother and I have "flipped", if you will; he now takes after my mother and her side of the family to a degree that I never reached (including the hereditary mental illness issues
), unfortunately. And I have become something of a carbon copy of my father in many respects, including physically. I love life, love to try new things, try and not sweat the small stuff as much as possible, am known as being a stable and reliable friend and family member, etc. In fact, a couple years ago I happened to be walking by an empty store front (after a Red Sox game, all decked out in my Sox gear) and I literally jumped with a start when I saw my reflection and realized I looked almost exactly like my dad at my age (particularly when he was coaching my brother's little league team - it was the cap.)
I'm actually very happy to have made that switch, but sad for my brother who has become nearly incapacitated by, variously, bi-polar disorder, OCD, Agoraphobia, and all kinds of other issues that I have seen in several members of my mother's family (and experienced, myself, if to somewhat lesser degrees when I was younger). I truly think my dad's influence is the only reason my mom is as sane and relatively "normal" as she is. And I thank his genes (and influence) for my own relative normalcy and stability.
My belief that my mom's family carries some serious genetic predisposition to mental disorders is a large part of the reason my husband and I chose not to have children.
Well, that took an unexpected and unintended turn, didn't it? Sorry if that went off the rails a bit.
And thank you for participating!
