It's possible of course, but there's also this bit of math fun:
| F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
| F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
| F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
| F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
| F |
M |
F |
M |
| F |
M |
| YOU |
This diagram works for most people, but not for folks with Down's Syndrome and a few other conditions. F is for father, M for mother; each of us has up to 64 great-great-great-great-grandcestors; no more than 46 of them has had even one chromosome pair reach you; even with the occasional crossing stream (I don't have even one such pair in my known ancestors, but some of my cousins do) there's no more than 46, and with crossing streams, could be less.
THANKS -- I love seeing stuff like that, perhaps with a good long night's sleep and several strong cups of coffee in the morning, I will understand that fascinating concept.
I know that somewhere on ancestry.com there was a discussion about how you have no more in common with your (I think) ggggg grandparents than with utter strangers. I'm unsure, my memory is unclear on how many "greats" - it was somewhere aroung 5 or 6, I think.
Thanks for sharing the diagram, I'll examine it tomorrow again.