Letter: Pettit’s “Front Porch” column was right on the mark

I always love your column but the first paragraph of today’s column (“Front Porch: Genomics exciting window into us all,” by Stefanie Pettit, April 27) was especially apt for me. There you mentioned “contemplating the likelihood our children would inherit Mom’s blue eyes or Grandpa’s big ears.”

Our two daughters each had a baby this summer, about a month apart. When the mother of the little girl called and described her, the first thing she said about Denali was, “Mom, she’s got your blue eyes!” She married into a blue-eyed family but she said that Denali’s eyes aren’t the same blue as any of her in-laws. They are (in her words) “exactly the same as yours.”

Our other daughter had a little boy who has prominent ears, exactly like my father did. She never knew her grandfather but we have a large photograph of him from when he was about 4 or 5 years old. This picture was on the wall across from the bathroom where we bathed the children when they were young, and we always referred to him as “Grandpa Shoes” because his feet and shoes were at their eye level. So, she knows exactly what his ears looked like and she is correct. Walt’s ears do look just like my father’s, her Grandpa’s big ears.

So you see your comment about Mom’s blue eyes and Grandpa’s big ears was right on the money and it explains my sudden burst of laughter, which startled and puzzled my husband.

Cynthia P. Laird