odd inheritance

The other day and lacking the confines of context, my mother informed me that I had my grandfather's fingernails. My grandfather, long since passed away, was a general in the US Marine Corps and, from what I understand and remember of him, a brilliant strategist and quite a remarkable individual. That the miracle of genetics allows any of that to be passed on is remarkable, though I feel somewhat shortchanged that it's only fingernails. Ah well.