Picture Post

My mom sent me this picture today. It's a photo of me at three years old. My first thought when I saw this was "Oh goody! It's time for another post about how much Abigael looks like her mommy." My second thought was "Wow. I sure had a big head." Finally, I took a longer look and noticed the scar above the right side of my mouth. The part of me that changed when I became a mother felt a sharp jab in the heart. My thoughts flew to the image I see in the mirror today and I couldn't believe the difference. This scar is hardly noticeable to me now. But on the little girl in this picture, it looks huge.
It was an accident. The story goes that I was running through the house, tripped and fell into one of the living room coffee tables. I have a memory of sitting on the center armrest in the front seat of my dad's car, holding a towel to my face. I'm pretty sure he ran the red light right in front of the hospital. I could be wrong, but I'm also fairly confident that I remember being strapped down to a board in the emergency room so the doctors could stitch me up. This isn't a particularly traumatic memory for me and the scar on my face has just always been a part of who I am (Actually, I don't even notice it.) However, it does make me wonder about the persistence of memories. Abigael is two and a half. Will she have memories of being this age too? Will those memories be good or triggered by some traumatic event?
On a more selfish note, I'm so thankful that Brandon and I haven't had to face anything like this yet. My heart breaks a little when I look at the little girl in the picture above with an objective point of view. All I can think is "How brave my parents were." Just a year after this photo, they were challenged again with another life changing event. I had to have open heart surgery for a small defect which was causing a heart murmur. Everything went fine and I've gone on to live a full, active life. But what was it like for my parents? I think about my darling daughter and my eyes tear up at the thought of something like that happening to her. The Lord willing, we will never have to face a similar challenge. But with the example of my parents to follow, I'm sure I would be able to rise to the occasion.