I can't stop looking at my social media post on this Veterans Day. The message is generic enough but the photos are very special. On the left is my father, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the mid 1940's during World War II. On the right is my son, who was also a Marine but half a century later, in the early 1990's.
It is not surprising that these two men look nothing alike, as I have none of my father's features either. (I always felt that I never favored anyone in my family until, as an adult, I saw a photo of my long dead maternal grandfather who appeared strikingly similar to myself.) The only resemblances between Dad and Michael lie in their height and build, and their beautiful hands (piano-playing hands, Dad called them). But as I continue to search their faces and expressions for some link, I realize that the link is not so much physical but subjective - their strength, courage, humor and their quiet, gentle natures, their creative tendencies and their love of nature.
Dad was ill for several years and passed away when Michael was still a very small child; I often wish that they could have known each other, spent time together as adults. I think they would have been very good friends, the two sargeants.
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