Thursday, October 30, 2008

You Look Like Somebody I Used to Know



When I was young, probably 7,8,9 somewhere in there, we decided that my sister looked more like our best friend's sister than like my sister. So when we went out in public, we would have our story all ready. They were sisters and I was the neighbor...in case anyone should ask. Now that I'm much, much, much older, I can see that they looked nothing alike. Their coloring was similar, but that is where it ended. My sister and I don't look alike at first glance, but if you look again you'll see it. In truth, we have the same shape eyes, nose, mouths...they are just somehow different looking on each of us. Another truth is that our different personalities probably make it even harder to see the similarities.

I see a similar phenomenon with my own kids. Sometimes it is like one of those trick cards with the holograms, where different pictures appear depending on how you have them turned...oh, look! They're so different! Oh wait, no look...they're actually identical when you look at them from here... And you've all seen the families with kids who look like they came from the cookie cutter. One kid after another and unmistakeably siblings from top to toe. And then there are the two boys you knew all through high school without ever realizing they were related because they looked unsimilar enough to be different species practically!

What is it like in your family? Are you look-alikes or opposites or something in between? And how do you feel about that?

7 comments:

Tara said...

My brothers seem to all have similar voices when they talk on the phone. But they do answer the phone differently, so that helps. My mom and I sound alike too sometimes. Plus, there was a time when we posed at my high school graduation and you could totally tell we were related..Same hairdo, same smile, same height. One of my brothers looks just like my dad, only of course a younger version.

Churlita said...

We all have a resemblance. My middle sister and I used to look totally different but look more similar now that we're older.

My girls look a lot alike. People used to think they were twins when they were young.

NoRegrets said...

we always say the six of us came from the same milkman.

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

My brothers and I have never looked alike.. I was adopted and they weren't. But when my Mother told her hairdresser that I was adopted she didn't believe us because we had similar features.. and when I look back at pictures of when I was younger, I can see that there are some features that would make people think we were related biologically.Weird..

laura b. said...

Tara: Sounds like you have one of those families where the similarities sort of come and go, but they're there. I hadn't thought so much about voices. My sister and I do have similar voices too.

Churlita: I can't remember...you have four or five siblings, don't you? I do think sometimes the similarites become more apparent with age for some reason.

NoRegrets: hee hee! So, you all looked alike, but it was a mystery where you came from :-)

Mrs: Thats funny. I'm sure I've seen that before too, where an adopted child is so like the parents that you'd never guess.

Cricket said...

My sister always resembled my father's side - short torso, long legs, big boobs, round face. I resembled my mother's side w/longer face and high forehead and I think I look like my great grandmother. My son looks like her daughter, my grandmother.

As, my sister as aged and gained weight, she looks just like our mother, so now we actually look like sisters. The female line of genes in our family is strong.

laura b. said...

Cricket: When my kids were small, I thought of them as basically looking like their dad. Now I see a lot of my family in them. When my oldest son smiles he looks so much like my father.
I'm somewhat fascinated by all this.