I wonder if, say, we had never met our mother, could we make a good guess as to who she is if we were all introduced in a crowded room (say one kid and 20 women, one of whom is the mother). Is there some animal sensing going on?…as in penguins? How about our fathers?

What has the highest correlation coefficient?: the longevity (life span) of the children vs the longevity of the mother? Or, the longevity of the children vs the father?

I think the mother because we inherit her mitochondrial DNA. The father’s
mitochondrial DNA is not passed on, because the gamete only has nuclear DNA, not cytoplasmic.

Note: in IVF, we can avoid passing the mother’s mitochondrial DNA to her kids by using only the nucleus of her egg and not the whole egg. They do this if there is a known mitochondrial disease. They simply pipette the nucleus out of the cytoplasm and toss the cytoplasm.

All women are mosaics, ie, they have two varieties of genomes in each cell. To understand, look up the Barr Body. This allows some cells to be female and some to be male. Very rare in some chromosomal situations.

I’ve never seen anything like that acrobatic move you pointed out, either.

I’ve never been a big acrobatics fan, though. Kind of creeps me out.

I have much to be thankful for on this special day, but tinged with lingering sorrow. I have a wife who devoted her life to family. She nurtured two daughters, who are now productive professionals and who, with her as a role model, exerted exceptional effort to being good mothers in their own right.

On the other hand, I lost my own mother before here 46th birthday. She was all that one could ask. Loving mother, firm disciplinarian; and as I matured valued friend.

I believer that Mother exemplified the woman of the day. Before her children came, she worked in a semi-professional capacity–it was the depression. Once we arrived, family was her priority. She held us together during the extraordinarily difficult years when Dad was away for World War 2. Her life had to be very hard, but it never impacted our sense of well being. I never heard a complaint, either then, or in later years when she was racked by increasingly debilitating illness and pain.

I so wish that she had had the chance to know her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She could be proud of her legacy.

My own wife is justifiably proud of her legacy of daughters and grandchildren. An exceptional student, and accomplished in many ways, she could have pursued a profession. She made a career of what is now not so fashionable. She devoted her life to her family; and nurtured them through my long absences at sea. During those many months, she dealt with whatever issue or crisis that life invariably presents. She picked up and moved at the whim of the USN, and established a warm and secure home environment wherever we set down. Our daughters reward my wife regularly by reminding her that she was the role model for providing a loving and nurturing environment.

I really don’t know when Motherhood became a part time job on a large scale. Sadly, it has always been a necessity for some. For others, particularly in later years, a choice. Many of the latter expend great effort to fulfill both roles. Others opt out of motherhood altogether for their own reasons. Ok. But, I do not understand women who spurn motherhood to the point of disrespecting the institution. There is some sort of disconnect that is incomprehensible and disgusting. They profess, publicly at least, that their own lives are more fulfilling and, in some cases, that society would benefit if more women supported their position. Presumably, their selfishness did not apply to their own mothers..

In every known language, the term “Mother” has engendered a special reverence throughout the ages. If this erodes, the human race will suffer.

Pretty ladies all.

Doing my spouse’s current favorite food for dinner. Deep Dish “Chicago Style” mushroom and sausage pizza.

…with a special shout-out to the mothers of jockey Sonny Leon and partner Rich Strike, who are no doubt kvelling in their respective abodes.

And what a race it was….
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/kentucky-derby-2022-results
(Scroll down to the video.)

neo, have you seen this? Arabian Dance AcroDuoBallet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vEPU8VTkAA

I confess to finding the ‘man bra’ a silly woke gesture to asexuality. But the dancer’s move @ .45 is something I’ve never seen before. To this layman quite impressive.