One of the most extraordinary things about my mother’s 80th birthday last week was her gifts to us! To each grandchild she gave beautiful engraved keyrings, and to each of her children – my two brothers and me – she gave a photobook and a CD of photos of our childhood in Canada and Papua New Guinnea. None of us had seen these photos from 30-40 years ago because most of them were on slides; it must have been a hell of a job to get them Cd’ed and it was such a wonderfully unexpected surprise! I keep looking at all of the photos with a mixture of nostalgia and joy; actually I can’t seem to STOP looking at them because I am gobsmacked at how cute I was haha!
One of the best things is to see Dad again; he isn’t in many of the photos because he must have taken most of them – our wonderful father, Brinsley Lane, who died suddenly when we were still in our teens and Mother was just entering her 40s.
Her gift to us is, of course, ongoing – a rich and vibrant record of a strange, varied and unpredictable childhood that is/was so much like Narnia – magical!
Thanks Mama!
jmgoyder 
What an unexpected and wonderful gift from your Mother. Gosh, she is such a thoughtful, kind person. How lucky you all are to still have her in your lives.
Seeing those photos after all this time must have been a genuine treat (especially seeing your Father).
I have shed a few tears to see my dad again like this – good tears I mean!
What a wonderful present, such a clever/thoughtful idea.
It has been a bit overwhelming in a good way!
What a very special gift indeed.
Yes!
oh, what a lucky childhood you had, and what a wonderful gift to all of you!
We were all overwhelmed!
You were/are adorable and I love that dress in the picture. Your mother is an amazing lady. Those pictures are so cool. Hugs Jules 😀
Actually I loathed that girly dress hahahaha!
I would have felt the same way if I had been the one wearing it. I hated dresses of all kinds when I was young. That is so funny that we would have had the same reaction lol 😀
Kindreds!
😀
What a gift. Those photos will always take you right back…
The nostalgia is a bit overwhelming!
Those pictures are priceless!
Surreal for me!
How wonderful!
Wow, it is her birthday and yet she is giving the ultimate gifts, this birthday just keeps getting better and better
I have one amazing mother!
You were cute.
You probably were too
I was. How did you guess?
Easy!
What a great gift Julie, love the photos and you were darn CUTE!!! ❤
Diana xo
I still am, aren’t I? Haha
absolutely!
Oh what a great mother you have so kind and generous to give such a great gift to her children and grandchildren………
She is a one-off!
What a wonderful gift! You were just adorable in that polka dot dress.
Haha!
how wonderful is that… hey and you were a cute kid…
Most of us are cute as kids – even you bulldog!
What a wonderful childhood and family you had / have 🙂
Weird and wonderful!
Wonderful gift and you “kids” are not going to lose them because you are older and more settled -can relate to the styles and hair cuts and the boat out in the lake.
So wonderful to see after all this time!
What wonderful memories you have! No wonder you keep looking at the photos.
I am still looking at them over and over!
Oh wow! What a wonderful gift from your Mom! And you were truly cute 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Ha!
Wonderful pictures! Why am I not surprised that your mother gave out gifts at her birthday party!
Meg is as special a woman as her daughter…what a wonderful, magical gift.