My mom's side of the family mostly live within 50 miles of each other, so get togethers are more often. And most of dad's family stayed close to each other, except for my dad, who made the trip south and set up his life in OC. So our visits with them were not as frequent.
It's been over 17 years since my dad passed away, long enough for me to forget many things about him. One thing that this trip forcefully reminded me of was his eyes. As I stood talking to his next-younger brother, it was all I could do not to cry; he has exactly the same shade and shape of eyes as my dad. Different voice, different height and appearance, but the same brilliant blue eyes.
My uncle is normally a quiet man, one who sits and listens more than speaks. But yesterday we stood and chatted, and I found myself staring, like I was going back in time and looking right at Dad. Granted, all his siblings have lovely blue eyes, but my uncle had the exact same shape and skin coloring too, so it showed up the family resemblance even more.
It makes me sad to think how long it's been since I saw those bright blue eyes crinkle in merriment at his latest joke, or watching his grandkids play. So many things leave us in this life...it was nice to have the reminder, even though it hurt.
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