This is a photo of my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Leo’s wedding. The ring bearer and flower girl are my brother and I. When I came across this photo it caught me off guard. The little girl holding the flowers, at first glance, could have easily been my daughter. I have never had that feeling before.
Klarisa, my daughter, does not have any of the distinctive characteristics that clearly identify her as looking like either my husband or I. She has blonde hair, two different colored eyes, and perfect eyebrows (which I envy because my eyebrows are far from perfect and my husband has crazy eyebrows). She has an incredibly contagious laugh and a smile that never stops giving. I realize those are personality traits but I felt they were worth noting.
When looking at her baby photos and photos throughout her youth and comparing them to mine I have never seen a similar smile or look. But in this photo, where I am four, I see it. I see it in the smile and the eyes. It is not prominent, but it is there and it still surprises me. As my daughter continues to grow up I see some glimpses of me in her however, those are usually tied more to personality than to looks.
Take some time to look at photos from your youth and compare them to your children. What do you discover? Are you surprised at the similarities or differences? I have two children and my son looks a lot like my younger brother. Sometimes we get confused with photos (from the past) and have to look twice to correctly identify who is who.
Klarisa likes to challenge us and point out to us that she does not look like anyone in the family, with Coby, my 14 year old, we do not get the same line of questioning. Why? He clearly has the crazy eyebrows.
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