Another Special Gift

Years ago my father-in-law wrote down his autobiography while the memories were all still fresh in his mind. He told about growing up in Poland and being run out of his home by the Russians at the beginning of WWII and how he was sent to a work camp in Siberia. Later he joined the army and fought for the allied forces and it was there that he met my mother-in-law, who also was in the army. They married and relocated to England after their service ended. That is where my husband and his brother and sister were born. Later, when my husband was 5 years old they came to America on the Queen Mary and eventually settled in Chicago.

For Christmas this year, my daughter and two of her cousins published their grandfather's autobiography and presented a copy to each family member. And along with the book, they had calendars printed through the Apple website. Each month of the calendar features a collage of old family photos from my in-laws childhood, to my husband's childhood, to our weddings, and the births of my daughter and her cousins.
These were the first gifts we opened on Christmas and they were such a hit we almost didn't even get to the rest of the presents under the tree.

I knew about the calendar because my daughter had asked me for the old photo albums. However my husband and his siblings were totally blown away by the thoughtfulness of these gifts. Even my mother-in-law, who now suffers from Alzheimer's Disease, could still recall the names of many of the people in the pictures, although locations were not as clear for her. Of course when she saw the picture of her late husband, her eyes lit up and she told us he was a such good man.

And below is my dear hubby - isn't he a cutie? Love that bow-tie!