60 memories for 60 years.

One day I was browsing Pinterest, and I found this idea for a gift, from another blogger. I immediately fell in love with it. My mom's birthday was approaching and I knew 100% I had to make this work. So I stole borrowed the letter in that original post and gave it some updates. I emailed to friends and family. I mayyyybe even broke into my moms's email account and got email addresses. For those of you too lazy to click on the link and read about the project, here's the letter I wrote to friends and family.

Dear Friends & Family,

Okay first of all, this is a seeeeecret. So don't tell Pammy I am up to something! I want her to be surprised with this gift.

I was browsing the internet and found this AWESOME looking present for a 60th bday:http://nothingbutbonfires.com/2011/06/sixty-years-memories

As most of you if not all of you know, my mom turns 60 this year! (Sure she would love me broadcasting). I want to take this idea of "60 years of memories" and fill up 60 envelopes with memories from friends, family, etc... and let her open them on her birthday. I will take care of putting all of the letters in uniform envelopes and numbering them- like on the website above. Her birthday is near thanksgiving, so I'd love to have these by November 1st if you can help me out. Also, I don't have email addresses of everyone mom cares about (her cousins, old friends) so if anyone has someone's that they think I may have missed PLEASE pass this along. If they don't have email, tell them about the idea and feel free to pass along my mailing address.

So I need your help!!! If you have a spare moment in the next few days, we would be so grateful if you'd jot down a favorite memory you have of my mom and either email it to me or hand write it and send it my way. I know handwritten would mean a lot, if you have the time. It doesn't have to be anything fancy -- you can just write it down on a piece of paper and sign your name. You can mention anything you like -- although the more nostalgic the better!

Thank you for taking some time to share your favorite memories. I know my mom would treasure this gift more than anything we could give her. Again, please remember to keep it a secret!!

Love,

Meghan

I provided my email, my mailing address, and hoped for the best. Letters starting pouring in. I looked forward to running up to the mailbox after work to see what new treasure I'd find for my mom. I knew she was a great woman already, but the stories and pictures and cards I got had me smiling, crying, and laughing. Most people didn't seal them and left them open for me to look at. Here's what my floor looked like trying to organize after everything got here:

I got cards, letters, handwritten notes. Emails, typed memories. Old photos. And the collection of them all together would make this present perfect. I bought 2 packages of manilla envelopes- one for the smaller letters, one for people like my mom's sister who sent me (no exaggeration) an album of memories. And I labeled them 1-60. 60 memories for 60 years.

Once they were all in their perspective envelopes, I wrapped them all together for the presentation. At this point, I wondered if anyone had told my mom about this, but it seemed no one had.

So on Wednesday night, we skipped out on the pre-thanksgiving bar going tradition (let's face it, 27 weeks preggo and in a crowded bar isn't my first choice anyway), packed our bags, and trekked to my parent's for my mom's actual birthday evening. While we waited for dinner to arrive I gave my mom the present and let her begin her journey down memory lane. Envelope #1 held a letter from me to my mom and explained the gift. I got a few pictures of her I loved during this. She had letters from close current friends, family members, friends of mine and mybrother's from when we were little kids. Notes from friends who live in the midwest and family who live in North Carolina. I even got a letter, photo, and the pagelong yearbook letter my mom wrote to in the 1960s to her friend, Ann, who she now emails with. That was probably one of my favorites.

The picture above is after my mom read my dad's second memory he wrote to her. They were recounting the story of a road trip trip during their early marriage days pre-kids when my mom made up a 58-verse song "George" and sang to my dad about their relationship thus far. Hilarious, and yes, she is definitely my mother. Actually both Matt and I have been known to break out in made-up songs. Our kids will appreciate that one day. Or hate it. Either way, they will laugh a lot.

The memory that took the cake and provoked some tears was from my grandpa who just passed away a few weeks ago. He sent it to me the week before he died, and hand-wrote it. He had a hard time writing but told me he wanted to make sure he was part of this present. And was he ever...

My mom loved her gift... and spent hours and hours before and after dinner going letter by letter, word by word, laughing and crying, and just kept telling us all how much it meant to her. Memory #60 contained photos of two ultrasounds- one from our baby and one from Matt and Sam's. And it read "finding out you are having two granddaughters". Our family is so lucky.



Then we had cake & mom blew out the candles. I don't know if she made a wish, but all the thanks I needed for this gift and all the time spent was worth it, when she looked up and said,

"It's good to be sixty!"