generation to generation

Today, family members met for lunch at a restaurant, including siblings, nieces, and nephews. The eldest of my nieces and nephews are young adults now, but I can't help but spend some of the time looking at all of them as the young children they once were. We have several of the framed mats that have cutouts filled with photos from when they were toddlers and little kids - it's wonderful to have the perspective of an older generation to see them in this way.

Remembering my nieces and nephews from when they were kids reminds me of the way my mother would look at me as I grew into an adult. It wasn't until I experienced it for myself that I began to understand her perspective. No matter how old I got, a part of her would always remember holding me as a baby, then watching me crawl and learning to walk, and so on, throughout the growing process. I can still hear her calling me her "handsome little boy."

I'm always missing her, but now particularly; she died three years ago today.