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When Neil came across a copy of the story headlined ‘Young brother nearly spoils card’ in a file folder, he tucked the clipping away.

“I’d forgotten about it until two months ago when I ran across it when I was doing my taxes and it was in my tax folder file for some reason,” he said.

Finding the story prompted Neil, a lawyer and venture capitalist who divides his time between Toronto and San Francisco, to contact his brothers, Jay in Toronto and Bruce in Regina.

He suggested they recreate the original toothpick card as a way of paying tribute to their mother.

“She easily qualifies as the best mother of her generation,” Neil said. “She raised five kids in Regina with intelligence and wit and encouragement, grace and love in equal measure amongst the five of us. She still possesses all of those characteristics today and passes them on to her grandkids and great-grandkids.”

Photo by BRANDON HARDER / Regina Leader-Post

The task of creating the 2018 card went to Jay — the artist in the family, then and now.

Jay was an illustrator for more than 25 years and the owner of the Muse Gallery in Toronto.

“When LeBoldus school first opened there was a contest to design the school logo, so he did the LeBoldus Golden Suns logo and it still stands today,” Neil said. “He had it in him, even back then.”

When Bruce delivered the card on Friday, Christine was moved to tears.

“It’s beautiful,” said the 86-year-old. “I’ve had wonderful kids — even when they were little they always thought of doing very special things. After all of these years, this card brings back a lot of memories. It’s almost hard to believe.”