A gift of the past

My forty-third birthday is Thursday. (But I'm accepting congratulations early.) A few days ago my mom called and told me that she had just mailed my present, and she didn't know whether I'd like it.

Today it came: a photo album filled with pictures of me from babyhood all the way up through Archer's toddler years.

From this:



to this:



to this:



to this:



and beyond.

Years ago my dad started digitizing a generation's worth of 35mm slides, and those pictures are among the most well-thumbed in my iPhoto library. I had no idea we had as many prints as Mom found for this album. It's a treasure trove.

In other words: this present is awesome.