My mom turned 91 years old this past Tuesday, but she is still young at heart and in mind. Last year, we had a big 90th bash with a huge crowd, but this year was much more quiet. Unfortunately, I was not in California to celebrate with her, but mom spent the day at my brother’s house with his family. My oldest brother, Paul married a beautiful, sweet Tongan woman, and they have three lovely daughters. The girls dressed up in their Tongan clothing and did a traditional dance for mom, which they practiced for weeks. I don’t have photos of yesterday’s party, but I do have some of two of the girls when they were small and in the full Tongan party dress.
Paul’s wife, Inga, made lunch for the birthday, and even though one of her specialties was not included, I still have to give you the link to her “Ota Ika,” a raw tuna dish to die for! It’s so good…
I love this photo from last year’s party of my mom with her sister, Joyce. The two of them, without fail, will always even to this day, pull out their compacts and lipstick and make sure they still look beautiful.
I am a newish reader of your blog but I love your stories. One of my favorite memories of my grandmother is watching her pull out her lipstick after Sunday dinners so she could reapply her bright orange hue. When she passed away (10 years ago from breast cancer), I asked if I could have one of her old tubes of lipstick. Such a wonderful memory. Happy Birthday to your beautiful mother, wish you could have been there to help her celebrate.
Hi Stephanie! I am so happy you found my blog and hope you continue to enjoy it. I love the story of your grandma’s lipstick. I’m so sorry for your loss of her, but happy you have her lipstick. I know exactly how you feel about it. I have a special lipstick brush from my mom that she had in the 1940’s as a young bride and I treasure it. I should post a photo of it. It’s bright yellow and looks very art deco. Thank you so much for writing!