A voice

A funny thought: we don't inherit a voice.

Fortunately for me, I have my mother's more feminine eyebrows. But I have a version of my father's hands and feet in miniature, daintier. My fingernails are wide and short, and my toes are stubby, the big toe a rectangle, barely escaping the properties of a square.

When I look at my oldest friends, whose parents are at least acquaintances, I can see the resemblance. There are shadows and flickers of each parent, and sometimes the similarities are impossible to miss. A man can be the same shape, build, and stature as his father.

Beyond the obviously physical similarities of family members, there are also the ways that people in motion appear to be related. The way siblings learn to roll their eyes, or the expressions they make while shrugging or smirking. Softening around the eyes due to a similar sense of humor. Two people can have very different features when seen in a photograph, but once they are standing next to one another, conversing and using the same intonation, it can be clear that they learned from the same experiences. Perhaps not inherited, but formed by specific and unique circumstances.

But the sound of a voice? The tone of laughter? Uniquely yours.