history repeats itself

how many of us can draw our family diagram without asking help from our olds to include 3 generations behind? i’m not talking about the usual family tree - plotting the names of who-married-who; i’m referring to an elaborated chart that shows our relatives’ career, behavior, relationship with other members, etc.

genogram.

that’s what it’s called; the amazing technique that presents family affairs, not just connections. i remember getting startled when i did this in graduate school.

i explored my clan, examined both mom’s side and dad’s; traced my roots, renewed acquaintance on my kin's businesses.. somehow i knew all these, bits and pieces, from talks on past reunions; but i never paused to analyze our stories and see if there's any great resemblance other than our names.. and maybe our looks? actually, even that is not conclusive.
until now.. when putting one and one together in sequence, lo & behold, i validated an old adage. indeed, history repeats itself.

this is a fraction of what i gathered. it's like looking into a mirror..

all families got a son for a first born; each has 6 children born alive.
all had miscarriages on first pregnancies; each has fraternal twins.
all families have one military officer, one medical personnel.
those who are closest, or the most distant, share birth month -- like dad & i are both july born, gladys & george are both in august, glenn & gaylord are both in march, mom, john, & kyle are all in october, gina & cindy are both in november (holy macaroni!! that is really bizarre!)
in all families, at least one wanted to be a lawyer but had another luck.
in all families, the youngest and the eldest don't share many things in common.
in all families, the second to the youngest is daddy's pet.
in all families, the youngest girl is sickly.
in all families the 4th child is the least fortunate in a lot of ways.
in all families only one member did not leave the country of birth.

if that's not too much of a mere coincidence, i don't know what is!
and as if it ain't enough, many more synchronized phenomenon are unbelievably part of my family history, that i could almost claim what will happen to the generation/s following mine!
ahhhhhhh.. the magical events in ties that destiny brought us.. they make a pattern unnoticed and beyond the human mind.

i can’t help but ponder.. is our present life a reflection of our relatives’ past? can we get a glimpse of our tomorrow by looking back at granny's fate?

if the foregoing is any indication, a caveat to all who care: should you wish to reform the future, take time to revisit the past and redefine the present.

i shall heed.
as life goes on..