Boots was our neighbor when I was growing up as a kid. We used to play some games together. After our grade school, we lost touch with each other; until in recent years when we have been ‘reacquainted’ here in the Bay Area. I was mildly surprised and piquantly pleased when one time she remarked that I reminded her a lot about my father.
In like manner, I see so much of Martin in Jonathan. There are times, I imagine being in a time warp and seeing the grown-up Martin playing with his younger self. I feel Martin when he sees in Jonathan his own anxieties and moods and he would just blather, “Sorry son. You got those from me.”
People often see a lot of me in my sons, after all half of their genes came from me. But aside from the genes, there are the times and moments we have spent together. Sharing time and space, they have caught a lot more from me that cannot be due to the genes I transmitted to them, like my kind of humor (corny), my dreams (happy and meant to be shared), my ideals (integrity, love, commitment), my attitudes (patient, forgiving, open), my quirks (quixotic at times, romantic to the core).
This interconnectedness of life tells me a lot about my source. It also gives me an inkling of what is coming up ahead. Just as I was greatly influenced by my father and my sons were greatly influenced by me (without us even being very conscious of the process), I have also touched and changed by people I have met as I have been touched and changed by them as well. Generally, we pass on to others the good things that are necessary for life to prosper. That is the law of evolution. In pedantic terms, evolution enables the passing on of traits necessary for survival.
The whole process may seem blind or random. But over time, there is a discernible rhyme and reason to the changes. Life unfolds beautifully. Some call it serendipity. I call it the grace of God.