Today is a special day so it didn’t feel right to blog about anything else. It’s the 3rd of May and it’s my Mum’s 80th birthday and my daughter’s 26th birthday. Yes, they share a birthday! In fact, Mum and Dad came to look after my 2 year old twin boys on Mum’s birthday 26 years ago while I went off to hospital to have my daughter. On 3 May 1995 my birthday gift to Mum was her first granddaughter.
Today it’s conveniently a public holiday (Labour Day) and we’re all getting together for a lunch at my sisters house to celebrate both the birthdays. In particular it’s a milestone birthday for my Mum. My daughter (as a journalist/reporter) usually has to work on public holidays but thankfully has managed to swap days with a colleague and so can join us.
My mother and my daughter are so very alike. They have the same round face, big eyes, same nose and lips, and the same fiercely independent natures, and love of dancing and acting/theatre. The only difference is their hair. Their hair colour differs and Mum’s is curly where my daughter’s is not so much (it’s wavy) these days (it was curly when she was little).
This is a post of few words but quite a few photographs and lots of love and gratitude! I haven’t told either of them I’m doing this post and don’t like to post current day photographs without their consent, so though I’ve included a lot of photos, there are no current ones.
Mum

Mum – always beautiful and glamorous. I’m not sure what year this was taken but I’m guessing maybe late 1950’S.

Mum in her first car (before she’d met Dad)

Mum & Dad on their honeymoon
My Daughter
You’ll see that like her grandmother she loves to dance and she was heavily involved in theatre and dance during her school days. Mum used to be in a theatre group in her younger days too. My daughter in fact was Drama Captain at her school in Year 12.
A Shared Birthday
These photos were taken in 2000 when it was my daughter’s 5th birthday and Mum’s 59th birthday.
I’ll be late to replying to comments and reading and commenting on other posts today as I’ll be off partying and celebrating and being present and appreciating these two special females in my life that I love very much.
Do you have family members with shared birthdays? Do you celebrate them together or separately. We often do both!
Ciao for now
20 Comments
Oh this was lovely to read Min! Happy birthday to them both and love the array of photos, your mum is very glamorous and your daughter is lovely! How clever of you to have your daughter on your mum’s birthday 🙂 #lifethisweek
Thanks Debbie! Mum was and still is always well dressed and glamorous. It was a lovely day and I’m so glad my daughter was able to join us!
Hi Min, Happy birthday to your Mom and daughter! One of my friends and her mom share a birthday. Thank you for sharing photos of two lovely ladies in your life. Enjoy the celebrations! #lifethisweek
Hi Natalie – thank you! We all had a lovely day!
Just lovely – they’re both so beautiful and I love the pics of your Mum from the 50s.
Thanks Jo! I love all the old pics of Mum too. She looks so beautiful in them all and the fashion back then was divine!
Such a beautiful collection of photos – and wow, that pic of your mum in the evening dress is stunning. HB to them both!
Thanks Lydia – that photo of Mum in the evening dress was some kind of special evening in which I think she won a title or something. It’s terrible that I can’t remember the details. I’ll have to ask her again!
Awww… love the pictures and the memories Min. I don’t think my family has any shared birthdays but I don’t have many family members. Although my birthday is in late Dec and my grandmother’s exactly two weeks after that and my mum’s exactly two weeks after that. Hope you have a lovely lunch!
Thanks Deb! You have a busy December – a bit like our May! The tennis players father used to be on 1 May and a niece is on 1 May, then Mum and my daughter on 3 May, then my sister in law on 15 May, a niece on 17 May, the tennis Player on 20 May and then me on 31 May … and of course Mother’s Day is in there too!
What a lovely day of celebrations for you Min – and I can see where the family good looks come from. Loved all the photos and memories – some reminded me of photos of my own mum x
Thanks Leanne – especially the very generous compliment on the family good looks! lol It’s quite emotional when you look at a collage of photos from years gone by!
Must have been nice for your daughter to be able to get the day off to celebrate as one 🙂
It was a bit of a miracle and I’m so grateful it was possible!
Those are some lovely photos of both your mum and your daughter! Must be great to have shared birthdays. We don’t have shared birthdays in my family but have a funny coincidence with birthdays. My mum and her sister-in-law (uncle’s wife) have their birthday two days apart in August while my dad and my uncle (mum’s brother) have their birthdays two days apart in June. Hope you all enjoyed a lovely day on Monday!
Thank you Sanch! I think the shared birthday with Mum & my daughter was meant to be and it’s amazing how similar they are in many ways. That sure is two funny coincidences with your family birthdays – both 2 days apart! We had a lovely day on Monday. Amazing it was a public holiday and that my daughter managed to get the day off work!
That was such a beautiful and loving post Min. You share your love of and for family so well. Congratulations and Happy Birthdays to both these very special women. Reading stories like these are great reasons to have a blog I think. Memories shared too.
We have one shared birthday. Our son’s nephew (our daughter’s son) born on same day 22 years after him. Funnily enough it’s not been something my son has found great. Something about sharing, maybe?
Thanks so much for linking up for #lifethisweek. I am always grateful to see your blog post there. Next week my guest poster is ready to comment…I have done one training session with him…and I will be there too. Cheers, Denyse.
Oh thanks so much Denyse. I’m the odd one in the family – an open book – very sensitive. I’ve held it all in to not make other people uncomfortable for a long time but nowadays I think what the heck – THIS IS ME people! It feels right to me to be sentimental, grateful, and expressive when it comes to family and those that we love. Fancy that shared birthday 22 years apart! I wonder if they have similar personalities?
Both of your May gals are lovely. They have such warm smiles. Love that they share a birthday, some of the same interests and favor each other, too. My 94 year-old mom will meet the great granddaughter who is named for her for the first time the end of this month. Cannot wait. They look a lot a like, too. Nira Jean and Camila Jean. And their birth dates are 3 days a apart. Three days and 93 years!!
Hope you had the best time with the family celebrating. May 3rd is a big day in our family, too. My sweet sister’s birthday and my daughter’s wedding anniversary.
Thank you so much Leslie. What a beautiful thing to say. It’s amazing how alike they are in many ways. That is beautiful that your 94 year old Mom will be meeting her namesake great granddaughter. How special is that! We had a lovely day celebrating Mum and my daughter’s birthdays. Hope you have a great day when your Mum meets her great granddaughter!