I am a bit of an orphan.  That’s a long story and not really what I’m looking to write about here so we will just leave that part right there.

So without getting into the gritty details, I am an adoptee and until my daughter was born had never even laid eyes on anybody from my gene pool.  And now, well I have my mini me.

It’s almost surreal to me. She looks like me, she talks like me and more often than not she acts like me.  Now I realize that this is a mix of nature and nurture going on but the genetic similarities, physical and beyond, are undeniable and just plain amazing to me.

I look at my little fair skinned, curly haired, blue eyed child and see a reflection.  She is me but she is not.

Seriously, I am in awe of this.  I grew up not bearing a resemblance to anybody.  Except for the odd mannerism kids are prone to pick up from their families I never really “took after” as they say, anybody either.  I was a stranger in a strange land.

And now, well now I have this opportunity to raise and nurture this little apple that fell from my tree and I feel like I have an advantage that maybe my adoptive mother didn’t have.  Because this child is so similar to me how can I not have an advantage? It’s like looking into a magical looking glass.  I look at her and sometimes I swear I can actually feel what she’s feeling, think what she’s thinking. You know that “inner child” psychology mumbo jumbo?  She is my inner child and I feel like I have an opportunity, not to relive my life through her, but to help her live hers in the most positive way possible.  Because I’ve been there and done that and I relate to her on a level that I know my mother just was unable to.

This is an opportunity of a lifetime.

About Shayna