What is Passed on Through DNA?

I'd appreciate your input. Do I resemble my great-grandfather? My wife and I just had professional portraits taken. Most of my life, I've always figured I resembled my father's side of the family more than my mother's side. My dad's First Communion picture was always hanging on our wall at home and just about everyone thought it was me. I know that with my hair, body structure, facial expressions and other items, I look quite a bit like my dad.


All that said, I'm thinking that each year that goes by, I'm resembling my mother's father's father a bit more. For whatever reason, I don't think I look like my mother's father at all but I am beginning to look like his father.

Below, on the left, is my great-grandfather, Aloys Panther, around the year 1900, when he was around 67 years old.

On the right is a photo of me, cropped from a portrait with my wife, taken about a month ago. Below is a portrait of my parents in 1963, when my father was 34 years old. Gads! He was twenty years younger than I am now!

I'm also reminded of descriptions of the personality of my great-great-granduncle, Tom Doran that fit me to an absolute tee. It is said that he had a passion for whiskey and cards. I'll tell you, I love a good 12 year old single-malt Scotch and I love playing poker and I'm pretty good at the game. I know I didn't inherit any genes from my great-great-granduncle but it seems we may have inherited some of the same genes from his parents and my 3x-great-grandparents.

I recall an episode of either Who Do You Think You Are? or Finding Your Roots that had a very popular singer discovering a music composer in his family tree. I tend to believe our genes have some sort of memory and tendencies for those who carry them to have a certain affinity to enjoy or be good at certain things.

--Matt