Although Lauren's father Mitchell and I were only together for a short time I have always thanked him for the wonderful genetic contributions he provided which went into making my girl the beautiful person she was. In fact I always felt that some of her less than desirable traits came straight from me.
I always thought that Lauren and I had the same eyes until I looked at a picture of us taken up close. Lauren's eyes were a gorgeous greenish blue and came from Mitchell as did her high cheekbones, beautiful skin tone, and big, full lips. Mitchell is also responsible for Lauren's artistic ability. He is an extremely talented sketch artist just like his daughter. The calm, laid back part of Lauren's personality also came from her dad but the sassiness was all me.
Her dad did contribute a couple of traits she wished he hadn't. Lauren would sweat profusely when playing softball or working out just like Mitchell. This contributed to her very stinky feet. Our rule in the car following games was no removal of the cleats until we arrived home and they could be taken off outside and left there. Occasionally she would break this rule and then quietly sneak her rancid, sweaty sock covered foot in between the front seats to see how long it would take me to notice it there on the center console. It never took long. Pee yew!!!
Lauren had just visited the dentist a couple of months before the accident. She was blessed with beautiful, big, straight teeth. We were looking into having her wisdom teeth removed to avoid any future crowding and discovered that she only had two....I teased her of course saying that must be why she wasn't so wise at times. We were so fortunate that she never required braces for straightening because they certainly don't come cheap. Again, the teeth can be attributed to Mitchell.
The most unsavory trait I passed down to Lauren was the horrible habit of biting her fingernails. I too bit my nails down to the quick when I was a child and on into early adulthood. I now keep my nails adorned with tips and acrylic because I can't grow decent nails due to all of the damage I did early in life. Lauren made my nail biting look like a casual pass time by comparison. That girl had the smallest little slivers for nails I have ever seen. Not only do I keep acrylic on my nails but I do them myself. Lauren always wanted me to do her nails but she seriously had no nail onto which I could glue a tip. Her little nubby nails broke my heart. She was such a gorgeous girl but those hands.....yuck! I apologized to my own mother several times as I was now experiencing the same pain she must have felt when I was young and bit my nails.
At Lauren's church service my ex-husband Ray used the scarf she was wearing to cover up her hands. I moved the scarf back to reveal her pitiful little fingers because that was my girl. Nubby nails and all. It is amazing how the things that aggravate us the most in life become so inconsequential in death. That day in her silk lined casket I thought her hands were beautiful....because they were so exquisitely and perfectly her. I will miss her nail chewed fingers along with everything else.
 |
| Got milk? |
No comments:
Post a Comment