"A woman puts her arm in a sweater,"- said my elderly aunt, "and out comes her mother's hand."

I tag my closing phone conversation with my daughter by telling her to drive safely. I put the phone down and see my wife standing, staring at me. "You sounded just like your mother,"- she says. "Well,"- I say, upset at being visualized in a skirt, "sometimes you sound just like your mother."- I feel a need to strike back in order to give myself some fighting room. A chance to think about things. My wife's comment isn't negative, it's an observation. I love my mother. I think she's a great woman. But I'd just as soon be me.

So, the next time you pass a mirror and see your parents remember that what you see isn't only yours. All of us, in some ways, will be shared by others.

While with others, their children and their children's children may never know us. Life is a gift from God, and all of us pass the presents along.