birthday proxy

My mom stood us up on her own birthday party! She turned 81 recently and I joked that it will be her debutante ball in reverse. So we spent a good part of the week calling relatives and booking the venue, Pilita’s -- which is perfect for her because not only is it cozy with good food, you’ve got entertainment courtesy of the owner, Asia’s Queen of Song, Pilita Corrales herself! My mom and everyone in her generation loved it last time we were there (for her 80th birthday).

Yesterday, the day of the party, my mom got dressed as early as 4pm (for a 7:30pm party). All was set. Then at 6:30, I get a call from my sister that my mom wasn’t feeling well. Nothing serious, she just wasn’t feeling up to going out. Just like that. It freaked me and my sisters out because we had guests on the way to the Pilita’s and no birthday celebrant!

So my sister and I tagged team. She took my dad and went to the venue to meet the guests. Meanwhile, I went to my mom’s house and tried to convince her. When I got there, my mom was complaining of muscle pain but she looked ok – at least she looked ok enough to me that she could stand up and easily have gotten into my car and to the venue and be with her guests. But no. So while all the guests at her party were eating paella, there I was with my mom having take-out chicken at our dining table. After about an hour and a half of trying to reason with her, I gave up. She just said, we should enjoy the party.

So I called my sister and we decided to look for one of my mom’s guests who had a birthday closest to my mom’s! Fortunately an uncle of mine just had his birthday just 2 days before. When I got to the party, Pilita was already onstage and asked me in front of everyone where’s my mom, I shrugged and said she can’t make it… but hey, we have another celebrant: my uncle! So there was my uncle, really surprised and in a bit of a shock when Pilita started singing him Happy Birthday and for the rest of the night, it became his birthday party!

As with most family drama, all’s well that ends well. We all had a good time. My uncle and some relatives even sang with Pilita onstage. We called my mom on the phone and kept her posted on what’s going on and she was laughing.

We decided that we’re throwing my uncle a party every year now. Hopefully my mom attends so we can celebrate her birthday then.