Have You Ever Thought About

Just what all goes into making you look like you? I mean, I think we all think we know, but do we really? My niece Kelley is a perfect example: I can only see the McHUGH side of her unless I see her with her cousin on her mother's side. Even with her mother (my brother's ex-wife), I see McHUGH. But with her mother's niece, I see that line in Kelley. It's the only time I can see that side of her family.

The same goes with me: in my brothers and I, I see O'ROURKE or DOYLE, not McHUGH or HODICK. Of course, up until recently the only McHUGH I had to compare ourselves to was our dad, and I didn't have that many HODICK relatives to compare us to, either. However, I was looking through pictures again today, trying to find inspiration for a post. I came across a recent photo acquisition of a newly-found second cousin, James McHUGH, his siblings and nieces. I won't show the picture of his nieces, as I do not know if the family would want that or not. But I did find this picture of myself and my brothers when we were about 6,8, and 10:

So I'll invite my cousin Jim to look at it (you may be able to click on it for a larger view; not sure as Blogger doesn't seem to be consistent about this feature) and determine if/how he sees the McHUGH influence. This picture was taken in our back yard in Niagara Falls, NY well before we moved to Arizona.

On this Thanksgiving day, I'll close with two wishes: A Happy Thanksgiving to all, and a hearty welcome to the world to my latest grand-nephew, Lennix (Lennox?) Parker, born last night at a healthy 9+ pounds. Congratulations, Jessica and Jay.