Your own body reminding you of lost loved ones

I never think i looked like my mum, but about 20 years ago i was on a bus, and one of my mums oldest friends got on,(who she had known since they were teens) and she called my mums name out to me,but questioningly? It was not very long after my mum had died,so maybe she was a bit confused, (she was early 70s i think this lady) so i did tell her i was my mums daughter,but maybe i did look like her younger self? and it made me wonder,as id never seen that i was.I was about 41 then.I do think one of my granddaughters looks like me at same age a bit.(shes 16)

My daughter questioned where her son (when he was a few months old) had got grey eyes?No one else has them. I knew straightaway it was from my own father!

My youngest nephew moves his hands when speaking just exactly the way my late brother did.

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror with my hair standing on end, there is my late sister looking right back at me.

My parents died when I was 30 and 32. I can recall their faces but hands, no. My DM had lovely brown eyes and two older siblings inherited those. Father had blue eyes and my older sibling and I inherited them. I can just about recall their stature as DM was short 5' and DF 5'10". Photos are difficult as I'd say I see myself in both of them. As I left home at 19 I didn't really acquire their adult habits, lifestyle. Hard to think that they died well over 40 years ago.

Every time the hair dresser lifts the mirror to show the back of my head, “Hello mum!”

Just as many have said, we are genetically connected. This is why there is so much more in the universe and life we do not understand. It is truly intriguing but I think perhaps we shouldn’t understand therefore life after death remains a wonderful adventure when the time comes.
I always remember my DD 7yrs old playing upstairs in her bedroom and I could hear her talking to someone (thought it was her dolls) at lunchtime I said you were having a good chat with your dolls this morning. She looked at me as if I was daft, no Mum that was the old lady who talks to me. Oh I said thinking imaginary friend and it was never discussed again. When we were emptying my parents house we came across a large box of photos which I put away for later. It wasn’t until we had moved from Scotland to England and my DD was 31 we decided to go through the photos. My DD said oh that’s the old lady that used to talk to me when I was little. When we looked on the back of the photo it turned out to be my paternal grandmother who died before I was born. It was only then we both become quite emotional and unable to honestly make sense of it. Now we both just think it was a wonderful event, as too much speculation would diminish the wonder.
Anyone else experienced something similar, just wondering

I too sometimes catch sight of my reflection in a shop window and think, "That lady looks very like Grannie!" Then it dawns that I am looking at my own reflection.

But it is not only Grannie (Daddy's mother), at times I see my maternal grandmother, at other times my mother, when I look in a mirror.

An acquaintance, who had never known my father, looked at one of the later photos of him, taken when he was about 85) and immediately asked, how old my father had been when that photo was taken. I was surprised she had immediately correctly identified him, but her reply was, "Oh no, you will look like that when you are 85!!

I love the poem ‘Heredity’ by Thomas Hardy which describes this so well. Not sure how to add a link…

When my first daughter was born I noticed that she smelt like my Grandma -she still carries the same scent .
In character,she's like her being extremely highly principled and not influenced by other people .
She can't walk down the road without rescuing an animal.
My Grandma was annoyed about things at church and went against the church elders even challenging the Pastor .She considered him to he a hypocrite.
I don't think that they share a physical resemblance to each other.
I don't have many photos of my long deceased Great Grandmother and I can see a likeness.

People say that I look like my Mother ,but actually I look like my father's younger sister.

When my son was younger he looked exactly like his elder sister .By the time he hit puberty he changed radically.

Walking behind my 4 year old grandson I saw his late Grandpa’s (my DH ) slight knock knees. 😌

I was stopped on the street (of a town I rarely went to) by a stranger. I was about 16.
"Are you xxx's granddaughter?"
Yes I was.
I "had the look of him".
I never knew him as he died young, well before I was born.
I do know he was loved though.
I see my uncle in my youngest son, a lot.

I look into a mirror and see my Mum as she was twenty years ago. My legs are just like my Aunt's legs.

My youngest daughter has the same hands as me. We both have small hands and she loves that they are the same.

The resemblance is not there now but it was comforting and disconcerting in equal measure that my grandaughter between the ages of about 18 months and 3 looked exactly like my son who died aged 4. I would look up sometimes and could literally jump it was so noticeable . She even had his mannerisms and she obviously had never seen him.

I am the model of my Aunty Winnie, she’s Mums sister, everybody says it and yes I can see it myself but the best is my son who says I will never be gone as long as his daughter, my beloved grandaughter is here..she talks likes me, walks like me, argues likes me and loves the same even to ditching her long time love just like me and meeting someone else, falling head over heels in love and marrying him in less than a year.
She’s very daring in clothes and make up and so was I for the time, late 1950s and 60s. I bought the palest pink lipstick and bleached my hair with peroxide.and used a Toni home perm and was hysterical when my hair turned green. I bought a mini skirt and bright blue eye shadow and my dad refused to to let me leave the house, he put them in the bin, I think I was born before my time and my lovely grandaughter is just carrying on the genes, she just beats me on height though by one inch, bless her.

I caught sight of myself while walking past a mirror last week and saw my father looking back at me. People have always remarked how much I resemble him but this is the first time I really saw it for myself. It made me smile and I felt comforted. I’ve missed him so much since he died 6 years ago.

cc

I see some of my mother in my own face.

Oh, definitely. But then, some of me, in my son...

I feel my mother's presence all the time. It's as though she is still comforting and looking after me.
I seemed to have internalised her spirit in some way.

It doesn't feel frightening, overwhelming or weird. But very grounded. And gives me more strength when l needs it.

My mother adored me and l loved her very much. She was great and also gave me lots of space to develop into my own person and be happy..I couldn't have asked for more.

Whatever form you still see or feel your loved ones in or about is really a lasting gift from them.

Not everybody has this. So we are lucky if we do.

😻
XXX

It has been a joy reading all the lovely replies. Thank you

In my family we have a grin which goes back to great grandmother and the 1850s. Even the little grandchildren in OZ have it and they are 4!

Absolutely, I reallylove the reminders of ancestors, some of whom I never met...I am, apparently, just like my paternal grandfather in character and mannerisms, a fact that I find very comforting. When I cough, I sound just like my mother. Yes, these traits are passed on subliminally.

I have my mother's hands. She was an Irish farmer's daughter so had to do lots of chores. But I have inherited her large strong hands.

Lallylou

I quite agree yes, find the next generation reminding me of my relatives. My grand daughter walks just like my son who walks like is father. They often make a fist when they walk in a hurry. 🌹

I love this, my granddaughter sleeps with her face resting on her hands like my late mum. I look down at my hand’s now and they are my mum’s hands. I have facial expressions that remind me of my mum and I sometimes will utter phrases that my late father would use. All these things bring comfort and invoke precious memories.

My sister and I were very much alike though she was much older than me - we were often taken for mother and daughter. Sometimes I see her staring back at me in the mirror. I see my mother in DD. What brings a lump to my throat, though, is the resemblance between my 19 year old GS now and photos of DH when we started going out together. He was 24 then and the resemblance is so striking.