The "Zimmerman Nose"

I love noticing family resemblances in people. I think it's interesting how in some families the parents and siblings all look a lot alike and you know that they all belong to the same family. Or how in other families the family members don't really favor each other much at all. It's difficult for me to notice the remblances between my own family members and myself. I don't really think that any of my sisters or my mom look all that much alike, but people say that I look like my mom, which I think is neat even though I can't see it because I like  resembling her. I think the reason it's so hard for me to see the similarities in my own family is because I know my mom and sisters so well that our physical differences are more apparent to me than our similarities.

That being said, when we had our Zimmerman family reunion a few weeks ago, I noticed that a lot of us share one specific physical characteristic – the "Zimmerman nose." It's not a particularly good nose, as it's the fairly long, straight sort of nose and not the small/cute, slightly upturned nose that I always wished for. The nose originates with my grandpa, and although I didn't get a good look at everyone's profile, I noticed that my mom and her brother Steve definitely have the nose as well as several of my cousins. I also have the nose, as well as my two sisters, Miriam and Annette. Sharon, not as much, and I haven't had a good look at Kristin's profile lately, so I can't make a conclusive decision about her nose, but I think it tends to favor the Johnson side of the family, instead of the Zimmerman side.

Here's the evidence: I agreed to let my sister photograph me from the side for the sake of this blog post. I've always frowned on having my picture taken from the side because I think it's an unflattering angle. (Probably since I'm not used to seeing myself from this angle.)

My mom and me: first from the front and then from the side. We definitely have the same nose.

I also found a few candid pictures from our reunion that show our nose similarities. Here they are in order: Mom and Uncle Steve, my sister Annette and Grandpa, Mom and Grandpa, Cousin Christina and Grandpa and Christina and myself. I wish I would've gotten some better profile pictures of all of us that have the Zimmerman nose, but that wasn't at the forefront of my mind at the time. :)

Another characteristic that I get from my mom (and that she gets from her dad) is white hair. I was 18 years old when I found my first white hair, and needless to say I wasn't thrilled because I knew it wasn't a freak accident, but would be the first of many! My mom started going gray in her 20's and her hair has gotten progressively whiter over the years. I'm following in her footsteps. You'd never look at my hair and know that I have some whities, but I assure you you'll find them if you look hard enough! I'm not nearly ready to be as white as my mom is yet, but I'm trying to embrace it. I just hope my hair looks as pretty and bright as my mom's does when I'm her age!