Dinner and Dad

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Friday by going out to eat at Hickory Park.  We got in right away as it was shortly after 5:00, but it soon got busy.  

I had ordered a hot beef sandwich (minus the bread) for my dinner.  That was one of my Dad's favorite meals.   We then ordered ice cream for dessert.  Michael had a banana split and I had a scoop of cookie crunch.

While waiting for Michael to finish his we were visiting.  People were coming and going.  A group of college kids left the table next to us and before long 2 young boys came along to take that same table, their dads  lagging a bit behind them.  I glanced  up  as someone else was following them,  slowly trying to keep up.



  I looked, saw this gentleman coming, and looked away.  Then I realized it looked like my Dad and I  immediately looked at him again.





He was still making his way down the aisle, now closer,  and I could get a better look at him.  He was about my Dad's age when he passed away. He was built like my Dad.  He had a nose similar to my Dad's nose.  And he had a baseball cap on, just like my Dad used to wear. 




In that quick glance,  as he was coming down the aisle,  he looked at me.
It felt as if my Dad was  looking at me.  There were so many similarities.  




But of course the closer he got, while the similarities were definitely there, the differences became more clear. 

I have never come across someone who resembled either of my parents so much.   I had a wide range of emotions in that short period of time, from surprise, to my heart skipping a beat, to disappointment as I realized that of course it wasn't Dad.



It was wonderful to "see" my Dad again, even briefly.