2021 is rolling along and Randy Seaver’s second Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge has been posted:

1) What do you “take after” or “favor” from our parents and/or grandparents?  It could be looks, traits, mannerisms, speech, etc.

This is an interesting topic and requires a bit of thinking.

A. Physical size, Looks:

My mother was 5’5″, her mother was 5’7″ while my paternal grandmother was only 5’2″. I am 5’4″, so I fall in the middle of that range.

I have blue eyes, as did both of my parents.

My hair was blonde when I was small and was light brown before it turned gray. When I was younger, I found a clump of brown hair (about 10 inches long) that had been bound into like a pony tail. My Nana (paternal grandmother) was still living at that time and the hair was hers. When I held it up to my own, the color matched exactly. If I had told someone that it was my hair, no one would have questioned me.

There is one trait that my brother, one of my cousins and I all share – we are all left handed. However, neither of my parents, nor any grandparents or my aunts were known to be lefties. The family decided that either my mother or Aunt Carole might have been left handed and forcibly switched when they were very small.

Everyone I know, on both sides of my family, are fair skinned.

When I was younger, I could see a resemblance in myself to my Aunt Carole. Now that I’m older, I am beginning to look more like my mother. I think our physical resemblances come from my maternal great-grandmother, Annie Maude Stuart. I see her eyes in all of us.

B. Traits and Mannerisms:

I come from a family of readers, at least all of the females. We all love to read – different genres and interests, but we read.

My maternal grandmother, Hazel (Coleman) Adams was fond of many sayings, a trait which she passed down to my mother. I find myself using the same sayings. When my son complains about something done in a way that he considers wrong, what comes out of my mouth? If you want something done right, do it yourself! Many of the sayings are attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Maybe Grandmother read the Farmers’ almanac.

My parents were fairly even-tempered and I remember my grandparents being the same way. I am very even-tempered and will walk away if I strongly disagree with someone else.

My parents were always there to support me, but I was taught from a young age to be independent and to value learning and education, to set goals for myself and to take pride in what I do. I believe those values were just as important to both sets of my grandparents, too.

Hobbies is an area in which all of my relatives had very different interests. My dad loved sports; my mother’s favorite activity was playing bridge (which she tried to foist on me from about the age of 8 and which I hate to this day). One aunt loved photography, the other loved to sew and was very talented at tailoring women’s clothing. My maternal grandfather enjoyed the outdoors and carpentry. My maternal grandmother was a talented artist and piano player. I never knew my paternal grandfather, as he died when my dad was only ten. I suspect he liked music, as my father’s favorite music was from the late 1920s, even though Dad wasn’t born until 1926! Nana’s interests were always centered around church religious and social activities. None had the same genealogy addiction which I have!

Thanks, Randy and Liz Tapley, for this week’s challenge.