… and it only required my Dad to go into surgery for us to find out about it.
Let’s start at the beginning. I’ve always had an interest in researching our family tree, and it’s mainly been an interesting academic exercise of gathering names and dates and making the appropriate links. Now, though, it seems lineage is an important present-day issue for us Cooks.
Dad’s recently been in for treatment for a condition we’ve learnt is Dupuytren’s contracture, a condition which slowly, surely, messes up your hands unless you get it seen to with surgery. It affects the 3rd and 4th fingers, permanently contracting them by affecting the tissue of your palm, so you end up with a sort of half-fist. According to the literature, it most often affects men of Northern English heritage, and points to some Scandinavian blood further back in the line. So, somewhere back there, we were terrors of the sea, it seems.
Dad’s already had some surgery over the years to look after it, but this latest visit was a big deal. Speedy recovery, Dad!
Given it’s a hereditary thing, I guess me and my brother Steve have to keep an eye out for it, too. I hope it’s going to skip a generation or two – it’d certainly cause problems for a keyboard player. However, it seems that I’m hanging onto my hair for a little longer than the old man did, so here’s hoping.
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BONWAG 
Duputren’s Contracture … Hi I was reading a little about Duputren’s and I stumbled on your page. I also suffer from this rare condition, and what’s even more rare is that I am a 24-year-old girl. My father is white and my mother is black. It runs on my father’s side in the women. My aunt has it and my great-grandmother had it. My father is one of 11 and of English, Irish, and Scottish decent. My other great grandmother was a “Taylor-Clark” … I am related to the Taylor family from which P.T. Barnum’s mother came and to the man who made the Clark Candybar. There is not a single brown eyed person on my father’s side and when they were little they were all so blonde that their hair looked white. My grandmother was also a platnium blonde her whole life … so the Scandinavian connection isn’t shocking. It’s interesting though, especially because I got it and I’m only half white, but from what I was reading it is a single dominant gene and I will end up passing this on to my own children and other generations. It only affects our pinkys so I’ve never thought about having it operated on. I just try not to think about it. Anyway, I hope your dad feels better soon. :-)