We are all a reflection of her
My mother turned seventy-five yesterday.
She's an exceedingly young seventy-five so we had a lively celebration at the beautiful new house of my sister Kay in Greenville.
Here's who was there:
My mother and her husband of twenty-nine years, Henry. He'll be eighty in August and he's very young too;
My sister Kay and her husband of nearly thirty-six years, Pierre-Philippe;
Their daughters Susanna and Joanna, who live at home;
Me and my TG, and our Erica;
My nephew Michael (who is still recovering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome), his wife, Marie, and their three sons: two-year-old Tobias and newborn twins Simon and Joram;
Marie's sister Hannah;
My niece Genevieve, her husband Damon, and their three-month-old baby daughter, Ellender (she goes by Ella);
and
My beloved Aunt Linda, my mother's only sister.
Isn't that wonderful? I will answer for you: Yes.
There was a big grim reaper balloon, scythe and all, looming over a blazing birthday confection. Emblazoned on it was this reassurance:
Relax ... I'm just here for the cake!
He added an appropriate modicum of the macabre, which is why I brought him.
And we had delicious chicken that my brother-in-law prepared on the grill, along with so many succulent salads and fresh vegetables, I nearly died of enthusiasm.
Instead of a cake there were tangy-sweet cupcakes prepared by my pretty nieces, who are talented in the culinary department as well as in many other departments.
Mom got many thoughtful presents, including gorgeous earrings, lovely things to eat, and a gazing ball for her flower garden.
I cleverly gave her a bottle of Arpege because she wore it when she was a young woman.
We laughed and talked and took pictures of babies and carried on until nearly nine o'clock.
And then it began to rain and TG, Erica, and I had the longish road home but on the way there I looked at my pictures.
When I came to this next one (which I set up on purpose because I thought it was so funny, mom having a gazing ball for a head), I thought:
We are all a reflection of her.
And in this case that is a significantly fortunate thing.
Happy Birthday, Mom! And many more.
Speaking of many more, here are some additional photos. It's a slideshow! Sit and watch if you wish, or double-click to view the pictures at SmugMug.
That is all! Stay cool!
Reader Comments (5)
Happy Birthday to your beautiful mom! She surely doesn't look 75. Actually, your whole family is beautiful and the babies? So sweet! Glad you were able to spend time together. I'm sure that was the best part of it for her!
What a great celebration! Happy birthday to your mom!!!
Happy Birthday to your mom, she looks marvelous. Such a pleasure to see your family celebrating together. What fun. And the food looks delicious. So glad you were able to enjoy this special event together.
What a wonderful Birthday for your Mom. Her children, sister, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and wives and husbands all there. Love abounds!! She has a beautiful smile and definitely does't look her age. We should all be so fortunate! I am in accord that you all are a reflection of her, and what a compliment to her. The grim reaper was most definitely only there for the cake. Happy Birthday to you sweet lady, and many, many more!!!......................G.
Oh! I Love Birthday parties! Thanks for including us!!
Arpege...Haven't thought of it in Years! Nice!
Love all the photos and especially the slideshow!!
hughugs