Shared Attributes

Today is my father's birthday.  A date that I suppose will live in my heart forever, even though my dad is no longer here to celebrate with me.   With the passing of time, the pain has faded a little bit.  But the memories are always there.  All the more precious because they're all that I have left of him.

Well, that and his eyebrows.   My father had these amazing eyebrows.  Thick and bushy and with a complete mind of their own.  They would often just stray off in directions eyebrows weren't supposed to go.  And nothing anyone tried to do could tame them.   After my father died, I often wished he'd reach out from wherever he'd landed.  Let me know he was okay—and that he still was out there somewhere, watching over me.

Be careful what you pray for.   One morning not long after my fervent wishing, I awoke to find that my eyebrows had turned into my father's.  I kid you not, they are more wiry, thicker and most definitely more unruly.  They tend to point straight out and due north at the most inopportune moments.  Like say, right before I have to give a speech or make a public appearance or maybe meet up with someone who hasn't seen me in say the last ten years.

It's not a pretty picture.  And I know that some people would tell you that it's just because I'm getting older and going through hormonal changes.  But I know different.  And to be honest, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Happy Birthday, Daddy.

What about you?  Every look in the mirror and see one of your parents?

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