Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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The Odds of Leaving a Genetic Legacy. Most organisms are not aware of leaving a legacy. They breed, have offspring, and are unaware of the outcome. This excludes species that assess their numbers by group size. Humans, of course, are quite aware of those who might survive And pass on the family legacy through surviving genes. Some families have many long-term survivors And there are those who have few. My side of the family is in the latter group. My brother, John, was shot and killed at 20 in a hunting accident. My sister, Susan, was left barren without offspring. Maggi, my first wife, whom I met at Cornell died in Africa. My son, Basil, from Christine,never married nor had children. Chance, Pierre's son and my older son, was killed in an auto crash. Nora, my third wife was unable to have children with me. So, the only remaining part of my genetic line is Pierre, my son, Jayden, his surviving son, and Rowan, Pierre's 5-year-old son. Many have gone; a few survive. What might have been a number of survivors To pass on my Scottish-Swiss legacy, my score Remains with two boys, one twentytwo and one five. What might be the odds of their survival with offspring? No one knows, and most likely, I will not know either. I do remember the photo of my Great-Grandfather in Switzerland, Standing outside a barn with his little pony, Which bolted one day and killed him by dragging him to his death. Luckily, he had four children, and my father was one of them! Frank Maurer 19 April 2026 1320 Hours.