Re-visage

We are in the middle of a week of Vacation Bible School - primarily for kids of families we are in touch with at JSK.

I was looking at the faces of two little boys this morning - and noticed something familiar. The eyes, the look... what was it?

Then I knew. I was looking at the face of their father.

He died about 3 years ago.

And here on the faces of his sons are his eyes. The way he used to look.

Of course the man I knew was at the end of his life. Ravaged. His eyes had their own hauntings.

Am I imagining it, or do I see the boy's eyes retain a small slice of their father's grief?

As I looked across the room I saw other familiar faces in miniature. Some kids whose parents are still alive and breathing - some whom the breath of life has departed from. Small reflections and impressions of parents who we know through the disease that they suffer from.

And how will these little faces shape up as they pile on the years?

Will they make similar choices as their parents did - or will they chart their lives into different waters?