Sunday, March 8, 2009

Appearances can be deceiving

For those of you unaware, Kaylin doesn't look like me or Bobby. Sometimes people comment on her bright blue eyes while looking at my dark brown eyes and Bobby's deep green eyes. It doesn't usually bother me, but sometimes it does. Yesterday the lady cutting their hair made a comment, and the way she said it got me thinking. So what if Kaylin doesn't look like us?

What if she was adopted and we hadn't told her? What if she was the product of an affair? What if she was just Bobby's, or just mine? There's too many what if's.

It seems rude to me to ask why she doesn't look like us. We know who she looks like--my dad, my sister, my brother. She got the Newberry genes, you just can't see the Newberry genes in me.

I had a mom sit down at parent teacher conferences years ago. She drilled me for five minutes to guess who her daughter was, because "they looked so much alike". I never did guess, and I was surprised when she said her daughter's name--they looked nothing alike! I went immediately to another teacher friend to tell the story, and guess what--the mom did the same thing to her the year before!

And my sister adopted a little girl who looks just her. She gets comments too about how much Hannah looks like her, and that has to cut like a knife too, just like it bothers me when people try to figure out why Kaylin doesn't look like us.

Appearances are deceiving.

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