Flashback Friday: I look like WHAT?!!!

I believe that one should always be careful when telling a person that they look like someone else you know, whether it is a film star or a neighbor, it can backfire for even the most innocent comparison. Take, for example, when I told a girl I met that she looked just like one of my friends....who happened to be a guy....as soon as I said it, I could see in her face that it was a big mistake. Telling her that he had very long beautiful lashes didn't heal the unintended wound. Blast!

I had one of these zingers thrown at me, so I don't feel too bad. When I started out my service as a missionary, I got to spend a great deal of time out in the sticks of southern Virginia. People always poke fun at West Virginians, but I saw more weird down there in my first six months than I did for the rest of my time in the hill-billy state.

Soon after we arrived in my first area, we met a family who all lived together in different trailer homes on a plot of land. They were so kind to us and we sure liked them. Every time we would go over there, they would stare at me and tell me that I looked just JUST like their deceased family member, Wanda. I didn't mind the staring too much. I was just happy they let us teach them, even if it got a little weird at times. Sometimes they would say to me, "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were Wanda coming back to visit us!" and then they would stare even harder as if I were the spirit of their dear sister/daughter/mother (or whatever the family relation). A little strange, but in truth, I was flattered. They obviously thought the WORLD of this gal.

We had been visiting them for about a month when one day they asked if I would like to see a picture of Wanda. I had been waiting to see my ravishing look-a-like for a while and was more than ready to see just how pretty they thought I was. They pulled me over to an especially fancy frame and said, "There she is." in a voice of near reverence.

I was shocked! I don't think I was expecting to see Miss Virginia State looking back at me, but I certainly did not expect my clone to look the way she did. She was butt-ugly, was stuck in the '80's, and was missing a leg! Now, call me superficial, but this was not the biggest ego booster. I was so surprised at Wanda's appearance that without even thinking I said, "Wow, she is beautiful!" But then I realized that to them, I was saying that of myself, since we did look just like each other. Boy was that a hard pill to swallow! At least I never have to wonder what I would look like with poofy bangs and a wooden leg.