There was a story once told of two boys who were brought up together in the backstreets of New York City. Both came from very poor conditions, but one became a teacher, the other a criminal.
What was the deciding factor? Was it in the genes from the beginning?
Can daughters expect to become mirror images of their mothers? Failing the domination of the 50% gene pool given to them by their mothers, can mothers make sure that the upbringing, the environment of their daughters is enough to complete the exercise in duplicating themselves.
Isn't there an ingrained desire in all of us to leave behind offspring in our own image? Isn't that what nature is about when you consider an oak dropping acorns with a view to perpetuating itself?
I believe I have had the good fortune of developing a ME in spite of the cards dealt to me. If I am a calm person, some might say 'low key,' I give credit to my father who rarely lost his temper nor was he aggressive. My resolve, others might say 'stubbornness,' is probably from my mother who has strength of character and wilfulness, but who has always regretted not becoming a lawyer or an actress.
There is no doubt in my mind, however, that if I am as I am today, it was due, in a large part, to my environment.
Witnessing and experiencing a certain attitude or philosophy to life has made me determined not to reproduce that particular environment for those around me. I suppose in nature's own terms I might be considered a hybrid.
Thank goodness!