For my dads 60th birthday last week， I wanted to do something really fun. My dad and I talk a lot about the past—nostalgia[怀旧] runs in our blood， I think—and we both love to reminisce[追忆]. Inspired by some birthday posters， I started batting around[充分考虑] an idea： what if I could get everyone from my dads past to contribute[贡献] a memory they had of him？ What if I had all those people send their memories to me， and then I put each one into an envelope—60 total， of course—and had him open them， one by one， on his birthday？

That would be a lot of memories， right？

So I wrote an email. I sent it to family， to friends， to aunties and uncles wed grown up calling aunties and uncles even though they werent related by blood. This is what I said： “…If youre receiving this email， you probably know that our dad， Patrick Burns， is turning 60 next month （much as he would hate us to be reminding everyone， Im sure）. To celebrate his birthday， wed like to put together a little surprise to let him know that his nearest and dearest are thinking of him. Were going to try and create ‘60 Years of Memories by filling 60 envelopes with a memory his friends and family have of him. If you have a spare[空闲的] moment in the next few days， we would be so grateful if youd jot down[简短地写下] a favorite memory you have of our dad and put it in the post. It doesnt have to be anything fancy[特别的]—you can just write it down on a piece of paper and sign your name. You can mention anything you like—although the more nostalgic the better！ Please absolutely feel free to send more than one memory， but make sure you write them on different pieces of paper so we can split[分开] them up. Thank you so， so， so much for participating—we know everyone is busy with their own lives， and we do appreciate[感激] you taking a few minutes to do this； it will be so worth it when he reads all the memories people have of him！ Please dont forget to keep it a surprise until then…”

So I sent the email and then I waited. And then the replies started coming in. I was flabbergasted[感到震惊] and I do not use that word lightly. There were so many memories， and they were all so lovely. They came from the 50s， the 60s， the 70s， from every decade[十年] between now and the day my dad was born. They came from my mother， my siblings[兄弟姐妹]， my grandma， my dads friends from high school， his sister， an old girlfriend， my mothers old boyfriend， my dads first boss， a colleague at his first job， from people who remembered people no longer with us， from people who hadnt seen my dad in 40 years， from people I hadnt even contacted originally but who had been told about the project by someone else. They typed them and handwrote them. They mailed them and emailed them. I collected them for two weeks， my heart pinging[乒乓作响] with excitement each time a new one arrived.

The night before his birthday， my sister and I stayed up late， putting everything together. I had some vintage[经典的] airmail envelopes left over from my wedding and I bought a packet of numbered[编号] stickers[图文标签] after a fraught[焦虑的] half hour of anxious[让人担忧的] math， trying to decide how many wed need. We numbered the envelopes from one to 60， then we tucked[折进] a different memory into each.

And then， on the morning of his birthday， after breakfast and presents and cake， we gave them to him. “Just one more thing for you，” we said.

It took him a really， really， really long time to open them. Each one was a brief ticket to another time， a leap[跳跃] backwards over years and decades into the past. There was a lot of laughter， and—I dont think my dad will mind me telling you this—a few tears too.

In a way， Im sort of sad that this project is over because it was a huge amount of fun to collect and collate[整理] all of these memories， many of them occurring years before I was even born. It gave me a different picture of my dad， one woven together by all the people from his past， all those people who—weirdly and peripherally—put into action the sequence[系列] of events that led to my life as I know it.

Turns out， you can make a lot of memories in sixty years. And then， if youre lucky， you can relive[再次体验] them all over again.

上周是我老爸的六十大寿，我想要做点非常好玩的事情。老爸和我时常聊起旧日的时光——我认为那是因为在我们血液中流淌着怀旧情结——我俩都喜欢追忆往昔。受到一些生日海报的启发，我开始反复思考一个想法：我能不能让老爸以前认识的每一个人都贡献一段他们关于他的回忆呢？我能不能让所有这些人都把他们的回忆发给我，然后把每一段回忆都装进一个信封里——当然了，总共60个信封——然后让他在生日那天一个一个地打开呢？

那将会是许多的回忆，不是吗？

于是，我写了一封邮件。我将它发给各个家庭成员，发给许多朋友，发给那些即便没有血缘关系，但我们从小到大都称其为叔叔和阿姨的人。我在邮件里是这样写的：“……如果您收到这封邮件，您或许认识我们的老爸帕特里克·伯恩斯，他下个月将步入六十岁了（我相信我们这样提醒每个人，他会很不高兴的）。为了庆祝他的生日，我们想要一起制造一个小惊喜，让他知道他最亲密和最亲爱的人们都在想着他。我们将要用亲朋好友对他的记忆来填满六十个信封，试着创造一段‘六十年的回忆。如果您在接下来的几天里有点空闲时间，如果您能信手写下一笔有关我们老爸的最美好的回忆并将之投进邮筒，我们将不胜感激。