Happy Birthday, Mum!

In Australia today my Mum celebrates her 86th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Mum!

I’ve said it many times before but it’s always worth repeating: My brothers and I are very fortunate to have Margaret Anne Bayly (née Sparkes) as our mother. She is a beautiful, wise and strong woman who extends care, kindness and love to everyone she encounters.

I love you, Mum, and can’t thank you enough for who you are and for all you continue to be and give to me, my brothers, our family, and so many others whose lives are fortunate enough to be touched by yours. Wishing you the happiest of birthdays, and looking forward to next year and my next visit home! 💗

Above: Mum at the look-out in our hometown of Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia – May 10, 2024.

Gunnedah and its surrounding area were originally inhabited by Indigenous Australians who spoke the Kamilaroi (Gamilaraay) language. The area now occupied by the town was settled by Europeans in 1833. Through my maternal grandmother’s family, the Millerds, my family can trace its connection to Gunnedah back to the town’s earliest days. For more about the town’s history and my family’s connection to it, see the previous Wild Reed posts, My “Bone Country” and Journey to Gunnedah.

In celebrating Mum’s birthday over the years at The Wild Reed, I’ve shared quite a number of photos from the Bayly family archives. In fact, I’ve pretty much exhausted my supply. So if you’d like to take a wonderful “trip down memory lane,” as they say, then click on any of the links below. You won’t be disappointed!

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Thanks, Mum!
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2023)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2022)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2018)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2017)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2015)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2014)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2013)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2011)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2010)
• Happy Birthday, Mum (2009)
• Congratulations, Mum and Dad!
• Catholic Rainbow (Australian) Parents
• Remembering and Celebrating Dad

Opening image: With Mum in Guruk, aka Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia – May 8, 2024.