My Dad turns 70 next week.  I can't remember ever seeing him on his birthday. 

His passion is hunting.  So right now he's in his rustic but warm cabin deep in the Maine woods.  Sometimes my brother and/or my uncle and cousin go up for a few days to keep my Dad company. 

Hunting is a family tradition in our home that is quickly dying out I'm afraid.  Ever since I can remember the month of November has been set aside for hunting.  My dad, his brother, my brothers and my Uncle's son are all hunters and have hunted together for years. My dad started hunting when he was a very small boy with his dad.   

My husband and my sons  have never gone hunting.    Usually it's a tradition that starts with the dad.  My husband's dad never hunted so his sons, including my husband, never had the opportunity and that transferred to my sons.  

I wanted to do something special to honor my dad's 70th birthday but knowing I wouldn't be able to see him I pondered for a bit.  What could I get him that would make his birthday a memorable one?  I needed to do something different than the usual clumsy attempt at trying to purchase a man-gift.  He's not easy. 

Then I remembered.

My in-laws had a gift made for them I think for a wedding anniversary that was very special.  It was put in a very prominent place in their home.  It was a framed collage of their whole life in pictures. 

So I went on the hunt.  I needed to find small pictures of everyone in our family including in-laws and grandchildren.  I started with my mom and dad.  Then me as their eldest child.  Then my brothers and even our beloved family dog Smokey.  I would go on to include our spouses and then the grandchildren.  Last but not least my two grandchildren which are my dad's only two great grandchildren as only my children have married thus far. 

I bought a large 10x13 frame and cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit.  The pictures would be cut, fitted and taped to this sheet of paper much like a jigsaw puzzle.  This would take a couple of weeks as I found or had to make up pictures from the computer not wanting to leave anyone out. 

I started with a few small old baby pictures of my brothers and I.  This progressed to a few grade school pictures and then a few teen pics cutting each out very carefully getting rid of the background focusing just on the individuals.  I continued by finding a picture of my husband along with my brother's wives.  Then came the grandchildren.   We have four boys.  One brother has two children and the other brother has one.   I probably would have had to have a bigger frame if there were more grandkids. 

As it started to come together I got excited because this would invoke so many memories for my dad.  What started out as my mom and my dad quickly grew into a fairly large family portrait.   The first pictures were dated in 1960 and it continued to 2008 with the additions of my two grandbabies using pictures of them I took this summer and fall.  So this one frame held 48 years of memories.  My how time flies.

When I was in Maine a few weeks ago I met with my dad and couldn't wait for him to see his birthday gift.  I knew it was early but I wanted him to see it while I could explain the whole thing with him looking on.  Besides, there was no chance I'd get to see him on his birthday anyway.

So he unwrapped it with a smile that soon faded.  His face grew somber as his eyes scanned the pictures.  I pointed out the picture of him and I on the beach when I was barely a year old.  He saw the picture of my brothers and I with fishing poles in our hands when I was probably about eight.  He saw his retirement picture he had taken in his uniform when he retired years ago from the Fire Department.  I placed that  prominent near the center of the frame.  He saw Smokey sitting in a chair with a cupcake and candle as we celebrated our dog's first birthday.  There was a picture of him holding his very first grandson, my eldest son Bobby.  He couldn't remember which baby it was. 

He saw the latest baby, Troy Russell, named after him for the first time included in the who's who of my dad's personal story. 

Then my dad, a rugged ol' Mainer, turned his head, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes.  He wasn't about to cry in front of me.  I knew that.  He knew that and nothing was said. 

It was the best birthday gift I could have thought of. 

One day maybe I'll have one and it will hang on a prominent wall in my home.  But not too soon I hope.  Our story is just beginning.