I was at mom's apartment the other night helping her set up a little cot for an overnight guest & found myself saying something that channeled my dad so violently that no sooner was it out of my mouth than Mom & I just looked at each other and started laughing hysterically. I have no idea where it came from but we both recognized my father's voice and personality in the remark. It was funny, touching and a very sharp reminder that as much as I physically and emotionally resemble my mother, I very much am my father's daughter.
While I was there at mom's that night, she showed me a photo of him that I hadn't seen before. It was a school photo, taken in junior high or thereabouts, and as soon as I saw it, I recognized not the man he became, the man I knew as my father, but instead the boy I know as my son.
It's been a running joke in our family that the child was switched at the hospital, because he doesn't resemble any of the other three if us in facial features, hair color, eyebrows, or build. But the minute I saw the photo of that scrawny teenager in 1950s Corpus Christi, it all came clear. The genes just skipped me & concentrated in him. Science is funny, y'all.
So, all that leads me to today's Throwback Thursday. This is probably in top 10 favorite photos of all time, for so many reasons. And now that I've made the connection, I have one more reason to love it.
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