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The Thumb's Christmas

  Our daughter, Anne, was a prolific artist when she was young. Our refrigerator door was full of her drawings, paintings, and school artwork. She liked to create little books, too, as she was also a natural storyteller. One Christmas when she was about eight years old, Anne wrote and illustrated a Christmas story for her little brother, James. If memory serves, she drew her inspiration from a book she had recently gotten from the library by illustrator Ed Emberley. He wrote and illustrated The Great Thumbprint Drawing Book . In it, Emberley showed how to make a variety of animals and people using a thumbprint as a starting point. The creations are simple and charming. It's amazing what you can do with a blog of ink and a few black lines. It's art that's accessible to anyone. Anne's story is called "The Thumb's Christmas," and is based on our family. There is a thumb with glasses (Anne), a thumb with little hair (toddler James), a thumb with a mustache (Ji...
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DOUBLE TAKE

I am participating in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, a writing challenge encouraging genealogy researchers to write about their ancestors. The challenge is hosted by genealogist, blogger and podcaster Amy Johnson Crow.

 Here's my post for Amy's Week Fifteen prompt: DNA

By Nancy Gilbride Casey

One of the wonders of this DNA we share with members of our families are the strong resemblances that sometimes occur among different generations. I've done a double take or two looking at family photos, amazed at how much a person can look like one—or even several—ancestors at one time or another throughout their life.

Here are some family photos, where the resemblances, buried deep in the family DNA, are evident.

Daughter Anne and her Dad, Jim Casey share 50% of their DNA in common. And it shows! From the turned up nose to the laughing eyes, even the hair color - an amazing resemblance.
Some family resemblances skip a generation or two. Sharing roughly 12.5% DNA in common, son James, right, shares similar hairline, eye and eyebrows as his great grandfather, Harold Edwin Casey, left.
We're lucky to have located photos of seven generations of Casey men to compare. Above, from left to right, Stephen Casey (photo, collection of T. Crow), Thomas Benton Casey, Stephen Henry Casey & Harold Edwin Casey. 
The Casey line and similarities continue with James Casey, Sr., husband James Casey, Jr. and son James Q. Casey. Although separated by several generations, and sharing only about 6.25% DNA in common, my husband (center), bears a good resemblance to his 2x great grandfather Thomas Benton Casey (above 2nd from left), particularly in the forehead, hairline and cheekbones.

On the other hand, while each person inherits 50% of their DNA from each parent - which 50% may differ among siblings. This accounts for why, while some siblings can look remarkably alike, some siblings can also look strikingly different. It's all part of this fascinating genetic puzzle in which we are all pieces.

Although each child inherits 50% of their DNA from each parent, which 50% can be radically different. In this family photo taken in the late 1980s show me (lower right), with my Dad and three siblings, who range from tall (Joe, over 6 feet) to short (me 5' 3"), and with a range of hair colors (Joe and I are blondes, Tim and Sharon, brunettes) and eye colors (Tim and Sharon - blue, Joe - brown, me - green).

How much DNA do you share with your relatives? View this handy chart from the blog Famlii, to see.

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 Until next time...
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