Painting With Shadows: March 2019

OK, I'm a bit late with this, I know.

Meg's 21st birthday was LAST month, on Valentine's Day. And then last week (March 21st) was World Down Syndrome Day.

Very often I post something about my daughter on both of these days, but at the very least on one of them.

I could come up with a load of excuses, but I don't really have any, so I'll make it up to everyone who only comes to my blog to see my daughter, by posting lots of photos at the end.

As it was Meg's 21st, we felt we had to give in to her demands for a big party where she could invite lots of friends, so we hired Ringford Village Hall for the Saturday following her birthday, and the invites went out.

I got in touch with Cafe Largo, who I photographed a couple of years back (see Cafe Largo), who played live music for us, and a fun evening was had by all.

Meg with her wee nephew, Alfie

Cafe Largo

Dancing with friends

But for all the organising, hall hire, invitations, food preparation, decorations, cake baking and so on, the biggest thing me and Maggie was,

21?

How on earth can Meg be 21?

This tiny baby, an otherworldly fairy child, is now a grown woman in her 20s.

A few days before the party, Maggie and I went through the old photo albums, and then the hundreds of folders of images on the computer, to create a selection of photos of Meg across the years. These were then printed up and attached to the strings of fairy-lights decorating the hall.

All the photos before 2004 were pre-digital, so I had to take photos of the photos while they were still in the old albums. Covered in a thin film of cellophane, it was a nightmare due to the reflections, but I didn't dare remove it, because it would never have stuck back down again.

So here, for those who would wish to overdose on the specialness of Meg, here are our selection.