Family resemblance

The last time Maman and Papa came to visit, Alexis had just turned 1 and we'd just had her 1st year pictures taken. I gave this picture to them, and they hung it up on their wall at home. Then just a couple of weeks before they came to visit, I was on the phone with them when Papa said, "Alexis looks a lot like someone in our family when they were a baby. The other day, I was walking into the family room and noticed something about the picture you gave us of Alexis. The picture has been there for 4-5 months now, but I had never noticed it until just this week. I have this picture of my mom and her sister (my godmother) also hanging in the family room. I looked at the picture of my mom, then back at the picture of Alexis, and back at the picture of my mom, then back again at the picture of Alexis. I don't know if it's the angle at which I was looking at the picture that one time, or Alexis' facial expression in that picture, or the fact that they're both black and white, but the resemblance was undeniable." Maman said she had noticed it long before, but didn't say anything, because it was so obvious, she had assumed Papa had already seen the resemblance. 

So when they came to visit, they brought a copy of the picture. It's true. I see it, too. Not when Alexis smiles, but when she does that thing with her eyebrows, I see it. It makes me happy that there is some Hairson in her. It makes me happy that my grandmother is in her, because Alexis will never know her, just like I never did. She died at the age of 49, I think. She was too young to die. Papa was too young to lose his mother. But it makes me so grateful for every day that I spend with Papa and Maman. I feel so grateful that my children know their grandparents. Not only did I never meet Papa's mom, but I also never met his dad. He left Papa and his mom when Papa was only a little boy, age 3, I think, maybe 5. He died after we moved to the United States, but he did not have a relationship with Papa, or us, obviously. I also never met Maman's dad. He also died too young, at 47, if I remember well. My memories of Maman's mom, Meme, are very vague. She died when I was 5. I remember her face, her hands, and her kisses. I remember going over to the house and sitting on her lap. I remember her stroking my hair. But besides that... I don't remember much. I hope that they're looking down on me and are proud of my accomplishments. And I pray that I will see them in Heaven when the time comes, not too soon, I hope.

That last picture is Papa. I remember Ruby telling us she thought Alexis looked like him. It was funny to me because I didn't see it, and I thought she was just saying that because they both had dark hair. But after seeing that picture, I see the resemblance, too. Probably even more so that with my grandmother. It's funny, but I don't even know what to call her, because I never had to call her by anything. I was talking about that with Papa, and we both agreed that she would have liked to be called Mamy. It does seem to fit her. So I guess that's what I'll call her. It only took me 32 years to come up with that. Haha. But really, I think my dad was a dang cute kid. Like seriously, he was adorable. No wonder he won a baby contest, which, by the way, I also never knew until just a few weeks ago! I'm learning all sorts of things lately!