The hour on the hospital band
Parents usually know it to the minute: the time written on the name band, the hospital, the town. Give us those and we work out the point in the sky that was directly overhead and frame the catalogued galaxy nearest it, with the place, the date of birth and your words.
Light from most of these galaxies left them tens of millions of years before anyone was born. It is a quiet way to tell an eighteen-year-old they are part of something very old.

From parents, godparents and grandparents

- Ellie · Royal Berkshire · 4.12 am · 2009 · go and be brilliant
- Eighteen years ago you made us a family.
- From your godmother, who held you first.
Siblings and grandparents often club together. One person orders; the price is the same.
A size that travels
11 × 14 in or 16 × 20 in fits a halls bedroom and a first flat. If you would rather they chose a different day, their first gig or the day they passed their test, a gift voucher lets them pick.




