The day my Mom turned 70

My mom had a simple birthday celebration last Saturday, Jan. 25, at the home of my maternal grandparents. Although my lola Ma died in July of 1995, my Mom together, with her brothers and sisters, have never considered selling the house.

The day started with Mass at the Pink Sisters in Doña M. Hemady Street in New Manila, Quezon City. The Mass was at 10 a.m. and to be perfectly honest, I did not make it to the Mass. My taping for Game KNB ended at almost 5 a.m. and regardless of how many times Mida, my yaya of the past 10 years, tried to rouse me, I just couldn’t wake up at 8:30 a.m. Josh and I went straight to my Lola’s house in Forbes, and we were there by 11:45 a.m. in time to greet the first batch of guests.

Elar’s did the catering for us. My sisters and I took care of the catering bill because it’s always hard to come up with a gift for my Mom, and hosting her celebration seemed like a practical solution.

Our menu consisted of the following:

• Lechon (of course, this being Elar’s specialty)

• Grilled prawns in garlic butter

• Grilled tenderloin with mushroom gravy

• Paella

• Fresh lumpiang gulay

• Tossed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing

There were additional dishes:

• Callos (done by my Auntie Maur, my dad’s elder sister and admittedly my mom’s favorite sister-in-law)

• Chinese birthday noodles (Lomi with assorted seafood and quail eggs from tita Reggie Coseteng, one of my mom’s oldest and closest friends)

• Steamed alimango and sugpo from Pangasinan (sent by Manay Gina de Venecia; she was with Speaker Joe de Venecia for an official visit to China)

For dessert there were:

• Crunch cake and Strawberry shortcake (Josh’s favorite) ordered from Baby Yulo

• Caramel cake

• Mocha sans rival

• Decadent chocolate cake

• Fruit salad swimming in whipped cream (a specialty from my Mom’s house)

The night before my Mom’s lunch, my Ate (Ballsy) texted me to find out if it was still possible for me to invite Ara Mina to attend. I called up Hazel (that’s what we got used to calling her on the set since that’s her real name) and even though she had a scheduled pictorial for a clothing line that she’s now endorsing, Hazel accommodated my invitation.

My Mom became her fan after having viewed Mano Po twice. She kept telling Hazel that she gave such an excellent performance, and that because she had slimmed down she was even prettier now. Most of my Mom’s friends had seen our film, and my Mom felt that Ara’s presence would give her male guests (mostly relatives and members of her Cabinet) a thrill. My Mom took Ara around to the different tables, and they gamely posed for many souvenir photos.

In a way, I feel that the real bonding that happened among Ate Mary (Maricel Soriano), Hazel, and Krisie during our shooting contributed to our effective performances. More than that, the three of us managed to form what I believe to be life-long friendships. Hazel, if you’re reading this now, thank you so much for making my Mom so happy by taking the time to be with us on her special day!

It made me beam with pride when my Mom asked how soon would Mother Lily be releasing DVD copies of Mano Po because she wanted to place a bulk order so that she could give copies to all her friends. Any child, regardless of how old you are, or how much you’ve already accomplished, will still look towards his or her parent for the ultimate seal of approval!

At 70, my Mom was the picture of good health and she was radiant in her green (with pastel embroidered flowers) skirt and blouse done by Paul Cabral. Paul has been consistently dressing my Mom for more than a year, and I’d have to say that his designs really flatter her figure and her complexion.

It was a simple luncheon, and dinner at my Mom’s house was even more low-key, although it was punctuated with hilarious one-liners and "insider" stories from John "Sweet" Lapus to the rest of the world. My Mom is an avid viewer of Bituin (the ABS-CBN soap) and Sweet was giving her up-coming plot points.

Allow the pictures that I personally took to give you a glimpse of the simple celebration marking the 70th birthday of the most important, most respected, and most loved woman in my life!