Do you believe that a part of you lives on through your children?

[arcadian]

And their children and their children and their children, etc. It would get pretty diluted after a while one would think. Plus, I barely knew my grandparents on either side and I damn sure don't know anything about any of my other ancestors. Maybe I twirl my hair because my great great great great grandfather on my father's side twirled his hair, but if he did, I'll never know and if that's the best he could hand down, well, that's pretty fucking lame.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear arcadian...

Genetically, yes, of course.

But the real me...the psychological me, the emotional me?

No, I don't.

:shrug:

:hi:

[EFerrari]

2. It's funny because the older I get and the more I learn, yes, I do.

I didn't meet my dad until I was 16 and there was a ban on talking about him in my home.

But, just like him, I had a photographic memory, painted and crafted, withdrew when I felt down, loved to read and people watch and in general, needed my alone time, had a very wide philosophical bent that refused to be beat into submission by practical considerations most of the time. :shrug:

[skygazer]

3. I have photos of some of my ancestors

My brothers bear an incredible resemblance to my great-great grandfather. Genetically, we do carry pieces of our ancestors within us and while it does get diluted over time, in our kids it's very close to us. And as with those photos I have, even from a bit of a distance, you can see the connections.

That said, I don't think my kids are going to carry on some sort of legacy of me. They're going to live their own lives just as I have. So a lot depends on what exactly you mean by the question.

[surrealAmerican]

4. Part of you lives on in everyone whose lives you've had an impact on.

It doesn't mean they resemble you, it means you've changed them in some way.

[Drunken Irishman]

5. I think it depends...

I lived with my grandpa and grandma for 10-plus years of my childhood, so their influence in shaping me is definitely there. Plus, my mom was much like her mother and I'm, believe it or not, very similar to my own mother.

But there are certain traits picked up from generation to generation and even if you didn't know your grandparents, they still raised your parents and shaped them and made them what they were when they had you. So if you're similar in any way to your parents, it's likely that similarity is shared by other ancestors.

Like my family has always been political. When my great grandparents came over from Ireland, they became FDR Democrats. That was passed onto my grandmother, who was very Democratic. My grandfather, too, was very Democratic and so my mom grew up in a liberal household and I think because of that, was fairly progressive herself. Enter me.

Had my great grandparents been Republican in the 1930s and raised my grandma as such, it's possible I'm posting on FreeRepublic right now. :o

[femmocrat]

6. Sure!

I recognize traits in my children that I saw in their grandparents. I probably have some traits from my grandparents as well.

(I'm starting to look like my grandmother, anyhow. LOL)

[azmouse]

7. There is no guarantee of how long your descendants would exist.

Did you know there are no living descendants of Abraham Lincoln? None. He was born in 1809 and already his family line is gone.
No guarantees at all.

[Enrique]

8. yes, because I'm a hydra

here's me with my boy.

[RagAss]

9. We're all just thoughts in each others minds.