Thread: Nature vs nurture in real time

Evening my fellow straight razor enthusiasts.
Hope you treated the mothers in your lives well this past weekend. I tried to satisfy all mine as well.
This will meander some so bear with me. If the title caught your eye then you may be a scotch drinker, just saying.
So to justify the title, here goes.
I was adopted, raised knowing I was, by a great family, my family. Two older sisters, and a mom and dad that wanted a son but didn't want to roll the dice one more time oh natural' so hired a ringer as my dad used to say.
Anyway raised well centered, loved, yada yada and all was marvy in the world.
Jump ahead to late 1991 to a small bathroom in Brampton Ontario where I'm mixing up a small sample of my wife's pee with some drops of a chemical to test for pregnancy. We didn't have fancy pee pens like today, Anyway, the test comes out positive and with it the first realization that in 9 months or so I would be meeting my first blood relative ever.
This sunk in a bit actually, so I wrote the Catholic Children's adoption agency for some medical history, DNA info etc. non identifying information they called it. All I wanted as I was pretty comfortable in my own identity as I had defined it so far in my life. Figured the medical background mattered as with kids came responsibility and they'd want to know about diabetes, heart disease and the like.
Anyway, jump ahead to 2000 and the CCAS finally get back to me with information. Almost nine years later,, a very efficient systems the Catholics are running,,, but I digress.
Anyway, clean medical info, and the information of who my biological father was. Didn't ask, but since he had already passed by this time they shared it with me anyway as what's the harm.
Years go by, my wife finds genealogy info on ancestry pages and voila I now have a name for a surviving widow to my biological father who still lives relatively close.
Compose a note to send her, and sit on it for another couple of years cause who am I to blow up her memories possibly and for what gain? I chose my path, was my own man, and didn't need to know anything about my past. But I didn't delete, or send the email until 2014.
Then nothing in return, for years, until yesterday.
Seems the account I sent it to years before was a forgotten one that she only recently recovered the password too and after an initial cautious email or two to verify I wasn't a Scammer or poacher, and quickly realizing by time lines that my involvement with her husband predated her own by 5 years or so she was actually very cool to discover my existence. She checked out my Facebook page and said I have my fathers eyes actually...
She has spent the last two days sharing pictures and family history with me I never thought I would need but am absorbing like a sponge..
Here's where the title comes from gents, I spent my entire life choosing my path, following my interests in mechanical things and the arts with zero input past the initial seed from this man.
And yet, we both drove a truck for work, we both worked for a dairy at one point in our lives, we both were into computer programming, we both were mechanics, that became supervisors, then managers.
We both built our own hot rods, he a dune buggy, me a Corrado. Both VW products.
We both married girls who's direct parents came from Northern Ireland.
Anyway, I'm still dealing with all this similarity, it's just blowing up my entire concept of self direction to a degree. Yes we are all masters of our own fate, our own direction we believe. But WTF?!?
Typing this all out helps me to put it in some structure in my head. Hence this long note.
Can't imagine this really belongs in here, but hell, it's a Conversation starter ain't it?

Anyway, thanks for reading it all. Life is sometimes much stranger than fiction I continually discover..

Just the other day I had to submit my son's blood for basically the same procedure,for a full bio run up, I guess you call it. I hope his tests are free of high risk indicators. Thank God, we don't share the same DNA; as cancer, diabetes, murder , drug dealing, stealing and cheating on spouses runs rampant in my DNA.

I think that my son might just have a chance.

Very cool learning a bit about your history. Nice story to boot. Good luck in your atempts to to learn more. Congrads.
And Hilaru, that sounds about like what i was thinking about you. Glad you dont live to close to me as we would have to much fun and end up in the poky together.

Thank you for sharing that deeply personal and hugely interesting story. Nature or nurture indeed but one thing is for sure and that is life is far more interesting than we generally think.

Bob

Mike, thanks for the story Brother.
I find it quite interesting how our "nature" is passed down to us.


John, hope all goes well for your boy

Thought provoking story. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Just the other day I had to submit my son's blood for basically the same procedure,for a full bio run up, I guess you call it. I hope his tests are free of high risk indicators. Thank God, we don't share the same DNA; as cancer, diabetes, murder , drug dealing, stealing and cheating on spouses runs rampant in my DNA.

I think that my son might just have a chance.

John, we share the same DNA evidently. All the above plus rampant alcohol problems and low tolerance to, well everything we disagree with.
It's in da genes, da genes I tell ya....

Quite the revelation, Mike!
I was adopted at birth. I was told the circumstances.

Never have thought to look. I gots PLENTY family already.

My adoptive mom wrote everything down in a journal. Naturally, my nosy wife and daughters read it. I told them to put the book in the closet and keep all to themselves.
I would read it as I saw fit.
10 years have gone by. Have not read it yet?

Thanks for the super cool story. Apparently I type to slow for a really long winded reply.
I will hit you with the reader digest version.
DNA provides us with a ton of stuff past the obvious.
I hope your exploration into the memories of others and fact finding provides great entertainment and knowledge.

Funny thing, My middle daughter got one of those DNA tests done.

I was telling her the story of Rezdog's Iberia razor with the Iberian Oryx on it.

She related that there was a substantial amount of Black Irish in her results and she investigated and found that the immigrants from Iberia that came to Ireland back when were called the Black Irish.

Her 1st cousin on her mother's side did a test as well.
No Black Irish? Must be from me!

I need my razor now, Shaun!