Khrystine and I were looking through my computer files the other day at the photo albums I have there at the older pictures of Daddy and Mama and Diana, who have all three passed away now. She often commented on how handsome her grandfather was and how beautiful her grandmother or Aunt Diana were. Daddy was handsome and Mama and Diana are pretty.
I wondered if I had thought that about them very much when they were here. I probably didn't think too much about it and I probably was most concerned about my own beauty and looks for the largest part of my time. Ahh, Vanity....my middle name. Daddy was a very good looking man. His eyes, a sort of blue sage green color, had an understated twinkle, and somehow, when I saw them twinkle I could tell that whatever he was telling me was true. It was the happines sparkling through. There was sincerety in his perfect smile....hmm, maybe that's where my kid's perfect smiles come from. He had beautiful, straight teeth and a smile that looked like it might have been painted on to be just right. Stephen has these features with that same happy love-you-with-tickles look when he's laughing and loving life. Khrystine has always had a perfectly "painted on" smile.
Mama had light blue eyes...Sessions eyes she called them, those "white Sessions eyes." She didn't like them. Why do we often dislike the very thing that makes us unique and special??!! Not very many people have truly blue eyes. Karen does and so does Gina...perfectly blue eyes. And I've heard they might be a disappearing feature in this world. Mama'a eyes twinkled, like the said cat that swallowed the said canary. She knew little secrets and harbored surprises. And she didn't give them up so easily. A favorite thing I remember that she would say, usually when one of the kids was trying to squirm out of being called on the carpet for something, was " You've got a black spot in your eye." Of course everyone has a black spot in their eye...the pupil. But it always made us squirm a bit and re-think what we were saying at the time. Funny enough, nobody ever seemed to realize she was just stating a fact. It seemed like she knew what you were really thinking or not saying exactly straight. Mama was always grinning when she said this. She knew nobody was actually telling lies here, but they needed to be a bit more honest with themselves.
Khrystine also commented more than once on how pretty/beautiful her Aunt Diana was. This surprised me a little as no one ever thought of Diana as overy pretty. Shelly and I were the pretty/glamorous ones and we weren't much interested in anyone else. Selfish twits we were. Now I see pictures of Diana or Marie and I realize they were the pretty ones. They had very sweet spirits and they really outshone us divas when it comes to beauty and inner spirituali
ty as well. They win...we lose. Too bad. I'm glad Khrystine would point that out.I've heard a statement somewhere, that says we have death to teach us the value of life. I find it interesting that when it's all over and done, the life of our loved ones has taken on a patina that just might be a little different than what we thought we were looking at along life's way. It's good to have a second chance to think things over and muse over old photographs.
