Our Genome and Our Lives

Oh that DNA…

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

Per Wikipedia, Thegenomeof an organism is the whole of its hereditary information encoded in its DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA). A few years ago a portion of my own genome was checked out by Ancestry.com. I just spit a little bio-material in a small tube, screwed it shut and sent it off to Utah.

“So about one thousand years ago all my forebears were Ashkenazi Jews per Ancestry.com’s analysis. Some unspecified time before that they were middle-eastern Jews as best as I can gather.

They likely loved the sunsets in western Asia along the Mediterranean in their desert climate. I love the Pacific sunsets in southwestern North America in our desert climate. You know, there might be something to this.

H. Robert Rubin, best-selling Amazon memoirist and author of Look Backward Angel, How Did I Get Through This? and Please Save the Third Dance for Me

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The Late 1930s

It was a period that included the Depression and the first rumblings of WWII. Two notable Americans were a part of that era. One more was especially notable for me.

On July the 11th, 1937, the wonderful composer, George Gershwin, at 38 died from a brain tumor. His great music will outlive all of us. It is a hallmark of the 20s and 30s.

On the 4th of July, 1939, Lou Gehrig at 36 gave his famous speech at Yankee Stadium, knowing he suffered from ALS. His courageous, appreciative words were, “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” 

Sandwiched between those two events on June 14th, 1938, my mother Gertrude, became a Rubin marrying my father. That”s why I am here to write this.

Those late 30s, were a significant period for those Americans. In essence, big events live on long after their era.